As Arlington Heights prepares for outdoor dining, Fausto's Italian Kitchen is closing
While a select number of downtown Arlington Heights restaurants will be open Friday for alfresco dining, the village's full-scale coordinated shutdown of streets to expand outdoor dining spaces is set to begin Wednesday, June 3.
At the same time, one longtime downtown eatery confirmed Thursday that it won't make it that long and is closing up shop.
Fausto's Italian Kitchen, at 16 S. Evergreen Ave., will close its doors after service on Saturday. According to a post on the eatery's Facebook page, the lease is coming to an end and owners decided it would be best not to renew "due to this difficult time."
But a representative at the restaurant on Thursday indicated talks are still ongoing about having a different owner come in and take over the business. She declined to provide additional details.
Fausto's is among the Arlington Heights restaurants that would have been eligible to set up tables in parking lots to comply with social distancing measures. That program, available to restaurants villagewide, is coupled with the Arlington Alfresco downtown outdoor dining initiative, which calls for the closure of Vail Avenue and Campbell Street to allow tables and chairs from more than a dozen eateries to encroach on the public right of way.
The street closures, along with installation of fencing for 18-foot-wide pedestrian walkways and associated barricades and signage, will occur by next Wednesday evening, village officials said.
Until then, restaurants like Peggy Kinnane's, Cortland's Garage, Javier's and Salsa 17 - which have varying levels of dedicated outdoor patio space - are able to open as soon as Friday. Some, like Hey Nonny and Passero, have started taking reservations.