Original Jake’s Pizza in Mount Prospect “temporarily” closed

Jake’s Pizza in Mount Prospect, which owner Jake Flowers opened in the early 1960s, has been closed for more than a month. According to a recording at the pizzeria, the business at 302 W. Northwest Hwy. — the chain’s original location — is temporarily closed for “personal reasons” and will reopen in the “very near future.” The property has been for sale for several years. Messages to both the eatery and the Jake’s Pizza Enterprises office in Rolling Meadows weren’t returned, and Flowers couldn’t be reached for comment. Village officials said the business and liquor licenses are current. According to the Cook County treasurer’s office, the second installment of 2012 property taxes totaling more than $17,000 was paid Aug. 1. Jake’s Pizza at one time had more than 50 franchises in several states, but the company franchising the restaurants went bankrupt and lost its listing on the Nasdaq in the mid-1990s. Only a fraction of the locations remain.