Gale Street Inn, known for ‘the best ribs’ in Chicago, closes

George Karzas kept his cards close to his chest. At Weston’s Coffee, where he often orders a blueberry muffin and drip coffee with room for cream, the baristas had no idea the longtime restaurant owner planned to close Gale Street Inn. Nor did his many customers in and around Jefferson Park.

“It’s too soon to talk,” Karzas said Friday from the bright red doorway of his restaurant at 4914 N. Milwaukee Ave. He has kept the door locked since Wednesday night.

Karzas announced on Instagram Thursday that Gale Street Inn, a neighborhood staple in operation since 1963, was permanently closed, a troubling trend among local restaurants, industry professionals say. He cited staffing shortages as the primary reason for the abrupt closure.

“Hiring and retaining quality staff has proven too tough for too long,” he wrote. “We are tired of sucking, we have standards you know. But overworking our existing crew is not the answer. There are simply too many of you and not enough of us.” 

He went on to say in the post that he’s loved operating in Chicago, “the greatest food town on the planet,” and that there is “no gracious way to close a retail business.” The restaurant is widely known for its signature baby back ribs. 

Some locals are mourning the loss of the restaurant. Konrad Klima, who was born and raised in Jefferson Park, had been having a tough day and was planning to have a beer and a bowl of soup at Gale Street on Friday evening. He was disappointed when he heard Friday afternoon that he’d have to find somewhere else to go.

“That’s a bummer,” he said.

George Catania had been eating at Gale Street for 50 years, since he was a little kid and would eat dinner there with his grandparents. He liked the ribs and the people who worked there. Catania said he feels bad that they are all suddenly out of a job.

Gale Street Inn’s history

Gale Street Inn opened in 1963 in a small tavern near the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Gale Street, serving Texas-size beef and ham sandwiches across the street from its current location, Georgene Chioles-Neff, the daughter of the original owners, George and Joan Chioles, told the Tribune when reached by phone Friday. 

She said her dad borrowed $5,000 from his parents to open the tavern, and they were able to clean it up to make it “very quaint and sweet” with a “beautiful back bar.” Her mom, a Chicago Public Schools teacher, came up with the name Gale Street Inn, said Chioles-Neff, 71, of Kingston in DeKalb County. She remembers her father slicing the beef behind the bar at that time, and serving the sandwiches on dark rye. 

A couple of years later, Gale Street cook Louie Artis shared with her family his recipe for baby back ribs, which became so popular that lines formed outside the 20-table tavern, said Chioles-Neff, who started washing dishes at the tavern at age 10. 

“It was a family affair,” she said. “We were from Jefferson Park. We were from the neighborhood. Because it was a young family working together that was part of the appeal.” 

In 1968, the city took the tavern property via eminent domain to build the Jefferson Park Transit Center, forcing the restaurant to relocate, she said. Because of concerns about traffic due to the ribs’ success, a local bank attempted to block the family from purchasing the new property, which she said at the time was a chicken farm. Chioles-Neff said the family used the name of Bob Beck, a bartender at the restaurant, to buy it.