Arlington Heights loses yet another eatery

Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, a longtime staple in the Northwest suburbs for Cajun food lovers, will serve up its last lobster and sea bass at its Arlington Heights location in mid-January.

That will leave the restaurant chain, owned by brothers Chris and Harris Pappas of Houston, with one location remaining in the Chicago area Route 83 and Ogden Avenue in Westmont.

While Pappadeaux restaurants have performed well across the country, a gradual decline in Arlington Heights sales over the years prompted the owners to decide to close, said David Jarvis, research and development chef for the chain. The restaurant has been at Algonquin and Golf roads since 1997.

“This hasn't been a rash decision,” Jarvis said. “They have tried different things to stimulate areas of the restaurant for growth. Part of it is simply the size of it.

“It does business at certain times of the year. The issue is it's just not doing it day-in and day-out in relationship to the Westmont store. The Arlington Heights one is the only one that's a different style of building and size.”

The restaurant's roughly 150 employees were notified Saturday and a tentative closing date has been set for Jan. 20. The owners intend to relocate as many employees as possible to Westmont, Jarvis said.

“They really want to make sure that the staff and management is all taken care of,” said Jarvis, who will continue to develop recipes for the restaurateur in Westmont as well as travel to other signature restaurants owned by the Pappas family.

However, many of the workers at the Arlington Heights location will have to find other jobs since there is not enough room for all of them in Westmont.

“They are not going to displace people that are already working at Westmont,” Jarvis said. “They will bring in people from Arlington Heights as there is turnover.”

Arlington Heights Village President Arlene Mulder said Pappadeaux's closing is disappointing, especially on the heels of losing Boston Blackie's.

Blackie's shuttered a number of suburban Chicago locations Sept. 29, including the one on Algonquin Road near Arlington Heights Road, a year after the chain declared bankruptcy.

“The economy has challenged us all,” Mulder said. “I would just encourage people to make sure they go and enjoy some great seafood before mid-January.”

Pappadeaux carved out a niche for itself with its popular seafood fare and lively atmosphere, she added.

“It was welcomed by the neighbors as a full-service restaurant,” Mulder said. “It's a unique restaurant on one of the busiest corners in the state.”

Mulder said the Pappadeaux building, though attractive, will be hard to fill because of its sheer size.

“It's another blow like a year ago we learned of the closing of the Sheraton just all of a sudden,” Mulder said. “We have yet to see someone come to purchase it and reopen it. So this would be another challenging site.”

Sheraton Chicago Northwest hotel closed late last year depriving the village of about $400,000 in yearly tax revenues. Exactly how much revenue will be lost from Pappadeaux's closing is unclear.