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Grandma J's, Previously Hit With Anti-Gentrification Tag, Broken Into Again

By Paul Biasco | November 19, 2015 11:27am | Updated on November 19, 2015 12:16pm
 Grandma J's Local Kitchen was broken into last night for the third time. The thieves broke the window and reached inside to open the door.
Grandma J's Local Kitchen was broken into last night for the third time. The thieves broke the window and reached inside to open the door.
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Grandma J's Local Kitchen

HUMBOLDT PARK — For the second time this year, vandals broke into Grandma J's Local Kitchen in Humboldt Park.

It's unclear whether there is any connection to previous anti-gentrification vandalism at the independently owned restaurant.

In June, a few weeks after the shop was tagged with anti-gentrification messages, someone threw a brick through the restaurant's window and robbed the business of $200.

Early Thursday, around 1:30 a.m., one or more burglars struck again, shattering a window and stealing an antique cash register containing just $1.25.

Grandma J's owner Layla Malia said there has been a lot of tension in the neighborhood over gentrification issues, but she questioned why someone would target her restaurant.

"I'm a Hawaiian living in Humboldt Park for 20 years," Malia said. "All we are doing here is making eggs. I'm not going anywhere.”

It's the third time the restaurant has been broken into in its 3½ years in business.

Malia, a single mom who opened the restaurant on her own, installed shatterproof glass after the brick was thrown through the window in June.

That didn't stop whoever broke in Thursday.

Malia said she has no plans to change the way she operates her restaurant at 1552 N. Kedzie Ave. She was open for business at 9 a.m. Thursday.

"This is mine," she said. "I'm doing this for my daughter. This is my place."

As for the stolen vintage cash register, it's irreplaceable. Malia bought it from an Italian man in his 90s, and he would come in once a month to fix it and have coffee with her.

"I loved this register. It sounds so silly," Malia said.

Police who responded to the break-in stayed outside the shop for 4½ hours until Malia arrived Thursday morning.

"That was pretty amazing. I'm very grateful to them," Malia said.

Grandma J's Local Kitchen was labeled by vandals as a gentrifier back in June, sparking debate in the neighborhood and on social media.

The anonymous vandals defaced the storefront glass with a black marker, writing: "Get out of Humboldt Park / Don't gentrify us / We won't be Wicker Park" 

The buzz around the heated topic led to the restaurant having its busiest week in its history.

On June 20, about two weeks later, the brick was thrown through Grandma J's window.

A crowdfunding campaign raised $3,000 to help the restaurant "bounce back" from the vandalism.

After Thursday's break-in, Malia said she is just grateful that no further damage was done to the restaurant beyond the door.

"My restaurant is very unique," she said.

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