Walk Glenview Road this month and the block between Waukegan and the river looks like a construction zone crossed with a grand opening. Scaffolding still wraps part of the old Glenview House building. A hand-lettered sign taped to plywood outside 1880 Glenview Road promises something familiar is almost ready to reopen. Down at the corner near the Metra tracks, a new brick building with ground-floor retail space already has its first residents watching the activity from their windows.
None of this happened by accident, and that's the part most people walking past miss. What looks like a lucky streak of new restaurants landing in the same few months is actually the tail end of a plan the Village Board set in motion back in 2023 and 2024, when trustees started approving economic development agreements, one at a time, to bring specific operators to specific empty storefronts. Those agreements are landing now, almost all at once, which is why Downtown Glenview feels like it flipped a switch this year instead of slowly evolving over a decade.
The First Wave Already Opened
Three of the businesses from that batch of approvals have been open long enough that they're no longer news to anyone who eats out regularly. Jackman & Co., an upscale tavern from Ballyhoo Hospitality along the North Branch of the Chicago River, opened July 22, 2025. Ovvio Italian Taverna, formerly known during planning as Bar Trullo, took over the northwest corner of Waukegan and Grove, a spot that used to be an old filling station, and opened December 4, 2025. Hometown Coffee & Juice, which already has locations in Glencoe, Lake Forest and Winnetka, filled in the storefront across from the Downtown Metra station on November 10, 2025.
If you've had a coffee there or grabbed a seat at Jackman's bar, you already experienced the first phase of this. The second phase is what's making the block look unfinished right now.
What's Still Mid-Construction This Month
The Foxtail at Glen View House is the one worth watching closest. It's taking over the historic Glenview House building, the same structure where the Village's charter was adopted and signed in 1899, and turning it into the operator's third Mediterranean restaurant location. As of the Village's most recent update, most of the interior work was finished and crews were still completing the front and back patios, with an opening targeted for August or September. If you haven't seen it open yet, it's close.
Spiro's Deli is the other one people will actually notice, because it's not a new name. It's been a Glenview staple since 1962, and this move marks only its third address in more than six decades, after 27 years on East Lake Avenue and 30 years at 1210 Waukegan Road. In early August, ComEd restored electricity to the new building at 1880 Glenview Road so crews could finish electrical work, with the deli expected to move in by mid-August. If you haven't stopped by yet, it's likely open or just about to be by the time you read this. Once it's running at the northeast corner of Glenview Road and Lehigh Avenue, hours extend to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, longer than the old location, and the menu stays the same: The Bomber, chicken pita, Italian beef, gyros, burgers and hot dogs.
Zenzi Den, the Japanese-influenced concept also from Ballyhoo Hospitality, is still listed as coming soon on the downtown business directory. Same for Smoque BBQ, the Chicago barbecue operator, whose site has been revised to the southwest corner of Waukegan and Grove and whose construction start is still pending sometime this year.
The Piece That Explains the Timing
Here's the part that connects all of it. In 2023 and 2024, Village trustees approved a run of redevelopment agreements specifically to fill empty parcels downtown, and by the fall of 2024 six new restaurants had been approved within a single year. Village President Michael Jenny put it plainly at the time: "There is so much momentum in our Downtown right now. More activation in the Downtown benefits everyone." That's not marketing language from a restaurant press release. That's a municipal official describing a coordinated push, and it explains why storefronts that sat empty or underused for years are filling up in the same 12 to 14 month window instead of trickling in one at a time the way small-town retail usually does.
The residential piece fits the same pattern. Cerca Glenview, a 62-unit building at 1850 Glenview Road built on the former Bess Hardware site, held its ribbon cutting in mid-June and welcomed its first residents shortly after, with monthly rents ranging from $2,745 to $7,300. The Bagel has already signed a lease for the ground-floor retail space. Tom Drake, principal of The Drake Group, the local firm that developed the building, said it plainly when the doors opened: "We have deep roots in this community, and that personal connection shaped every decision we made throughout the process." A building like that isn't just new housing. It's a built-in customer base for every restaurant within walking distance, which is exactly why so many operators wanted in on Glenview Road at the same time the Village was offering incentives to be there.
Where to Actually Park
If you're planning to check any of this out, the parking situation downtown has changed enough that it's worth knowing before you go, not after you've circled the block twice.
- The former Patio Shops site at Glenview Road and River Drive is now a 60-stall public lot, open all day on weekdays, weekends and holidays.
- A new shared parking agreement with Colonial Court at 1775 Glenview Road adds 70 spaces during evenings and weekends, which covers peak dinner hours.
- The commuter lot west of Depot Street and north of Grove Street is being rebuilt to add about 20 new spaces, along with better sidewalks and lighting.
- The Lehigh Avenue Bridge Replacement Project, which started in July 2025 and temporarily reduced stalls along the north end of the downtown lot, was slated to wrap up around July 2026, so that pinch point should be easing as the newer restaurants open.
None of this is glamorous, but if you've avoided downtown on a Friday night because parking felt impossible, this is the season that changes.
What This Actually Means for Your Downtown
The honest way to think about this year is that Glenview didn't get a dozen new restaurants because the market suddenly discovered the village. It got them because the Village Board decided several years ago to underwrite the risk for operators willing to take on a historic 1899 building, an awkward former filling-station corner, and a 64-year-old deli's first move in three decades, and those bets are maturing on roughly the same calendar. That's a different story than "downtown is booming," and it's a more useful one if you live here, because it means the next wave, whatever eventually lands on the southwest corner of Waukegan and Grove once Smoque's construction starts, or whatever finally opens where Zenzi Den's coming soon sign hangs now, is also likely to be something the Village steered rather than something that wandered in on its own.
For now, the honest move is to actually use the block. Grab a seat at Jackman's, see if Foxtail's patio is open yet, and give Spiro's a visit once the new building's doors open, because a business that's only moved twice since 1962 has earned a little patience while the paint dries.
If you're watching this stretch of Glenview Road and wondering what any of it means for property values or timing a move, that's a longer conversation, and one I'm always glad to have. Reach out to Megan Mawicke any time. Let's Connect.