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Chapati Indian Grill Coming Soon, Bar Louie Opens in University Village

By Stephanie Lulay | January 7, 2016 5:37am
 Chapati Indian Grill, a fast casual Indian restaurant, is opening its first Chicago location at 727 W. Maxwell St. near UIC later this month.
Chapati Indian Grill, a fast casual Indian restaurant, is opening its first Chicago location at 727 W. Maxwell St. near UIC later this month.
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Chapati Indian Grill

UNIVERSITY VILLAGE — The face of Maxwell Street is changing as two new restaurants take over storefronts on the strip.

After Bar Louie's opening in December, Chapati Indian Grill, a new fast casual Indian restaurant, is expected to open in the third week of January at 727 Maxwell St., owners confirmed this week.

The restaurant is ready to open but still awaiting city inspections, said Ahmed Agrawal, an Atlanta-based co-owner of the restaurant.

Chapati Indian Grill aims to be an "Indian Chipotle," Agrawal said, featuring build-your-own bowls and burrito-style rolls with Indian flavors, ingredients and authentic curries in a fast casual setting. The average menu item is about $7, he said. 

Expanding to the UIC campus just made sense, as the restaurant aims to serve students on foot in highly trafficked areas, Agrawal said.

The UIC location will be the chain's third location; the first two are in Cleveland. Owners also have immediate plans to open two restaurants in New Jersey.

Chapati Indian Grill is not affiliated with Chapati Grill, an existing Mediterranean restaurant at 547 W. Jackson Blvd. in the West Loop.

A Bar Louie bar and restaurant opened at 1325 S. Halsted St. in December. The spot was previously occupied by Morgan's on Maxwell. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]

Bar Louie opens

A Bar Louie bar and restaurant is also now open at Halsted and Maxwell near the UIC campus.

The 5,000-square-foot restaurant, at 1325 S. Halsted St., opened Dec. 21 in a spot previously occupied by Morgan's on Maxwell for more than a decade. The popular bar was closed in October due to unpaid taxes.

The UIC Bar Louie features 30 beers on tap, handcrafted cocktails and a 90 percent made-from-scratch menu, according to a news release. Specials include $5 burgers from 5 p.m. to close on Tuesdays, $6 buckets of beer from 4-7 p.m. Wednesdays and half-priced bottles of wine Thursdays.

The new restaurant is expected to create 50 new jobs for UIC students and neighborhood residents, according to a Bar Louie spokesman.

The new Bar Louie is owned and operated by Windy City Restaurant Management LLC. The owners operate a number of Subway sandwich shops and Dunkin' Donuts locations in the city and suburbs, including two Subways on the UIC campus, according to Feroz Fazal, managing member of the group. 

"We decided to go fast casual, and the hottest fast casual is Bar Louie," Fazal said in September.

Bar Louie University Village is open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.

Lucky's on Maxwell closes

In early December, owners of Lucky's on Maxwell, 717 W. Maxwell St., announced the restaurant would close permanently.

"We're sorry to say, but our lease has come to term and we've decided not to renew," owners posted on the restaurant's Facebook page. "We would like to thank all of those who've visited Lucky's Maxwell for lunch, dinners, drinks and good times. It's been a great 5 years!"

Lucky's Sandwich Co., known for their Lucky's Challenge sandwich-eating contest, was founded in 2004 at 3472 N. Clark St. in Wrigleyville. 

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