Some restaurants to close Monday

April 30, 2006

BY STEPHANIE ZIMMERMANN Consumer Reporter





Memo to anyone planning to dine out in Chicago on Monday: call ahead.

A number of Chicago area restaurants are planning to shut their doors Monday, figuring the pro-immigration march downtown will take too many workers out of their kitchens.

Other restaurants will continue to operate, but with managers pitching in on jobs left unfilled by the marchers.

Jose Torres, owner of Taqueria El Meson in Cicero, figures he'll lose several thousand dollars in restaurant and catering receipts on Monday but says he'll close his restaurant to support his employees, many of whom are marching. In fact, Torres says he plans to join them downtown.



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"I worked so hard," said Torres, a native of Mexico who got his green card in 1986 and saw his three children born in America. "I was born in Mexico, but I think like I was born here. This country gave me lots of opportunity."

'Supportive of the cause'



Gulliver's Pizzeria & Restaurant, a longtime Rogers Park fixture at 2727 W. Howard, won't be serving any deep-dish pizza pies on Monday. Nor will Pockets be selling any of its signature fresh sandwiches and salads.

"Most of the employees requested the day off, so we won't have enough employees to operate our locations," said David Litchman, president of the Winnetka-based Pockets chain, who estimates his 10 locations will lose about $20,000 in receipts Monday.

Lettuce Entertain You's more than 50 restaurants affected by the march are expected to use managers to cover some of the absent employees' duties so they can remain open.

"We're supportive of the cause and doing everything we can to accommodate our employees," said Kevin Brown, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. "We have a large Hispanic work force, and they are a part of the fiber of our community."

1.5 million workers foreign-born



The Illinois Restaurant Association didn't have any figures on how many restaurants might close Monday, but association president Colleen McShane said the group supports efforts to reform the immigration system and provide undocumented immigrants with legal status.

The National Restaurant Association estimates 1.5 million of the industry's 12.5 million workers are foreign-born.

"We sympathize and understand our employees' frustration with an immigration system that is broken, and we want them to know we support them," McShane said.

McShane noted that Monday is traditionally a slow day for restaurants, with many eateries closed on Mondays as a matter of course.

szimmermann@suntimes.com

Contributing: AP




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