And the search for halfway decent non-artisan thin crust in Evanston begins anew.

A 44-year-old business that many regarded as a dining institution, Dave's Italian Kitchen, closed Monday in Evanston.

The shutdown came without warning and occurred on the very day when owners Dave and Ellen Glatt were to have received keys to the city from Mayor Elizabeht Tisdahl for their work providing free meals for the disadvantaged.

A frequent patron of the restaurant said he found out about the closure when he ran into one of the restaurant's waitresses late Monday afternoon who said employees only learned of the shutdown when they showed up for work at 1635 Chicago Ave. and found a sign on the door saying the business was closed.

By late Monday evening there was no sign on the door, but the restaurant's website had been updated with a message saying "We're closed forever."

At the City Council meeting, Alderman Judy Fiske, 1st Ward, recalled that the restaurant had begun in a building in the 500 block of Davis Street "next to the Pure gas station."

The restaurant website says Dave's actually had two locations in the 1970s on that block -- both, along with the gas station, now replaced by the 500 Davis office tower.

It then had a long run at 906 Church St., before that building was demolished to make way for the Church Street Plaza development.

After receiving financial assistance from the city for the move, Dave's relocated to the basement spot on Chicago Avenue familiar to patrons today.

That building was sold to the owners of The Merion retirement community in 2013.

Some premonition that the Glatt's were about to call it a career might have been gleaned from their decision last October not to renew the restaurant's city liquor license -- although at the time City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said the decision to go "BYOB" was not a sign the business was about to close.

http://evanstonnow.com/story/business/bill-smith/2016-04-12/74991/downtown-italian-restaurant-closes?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

Going to say that place has closed and reopened about 5 times.

Remember going there for a Birthday and I remember them saying they just opened...well, dont think I was there when I was 2 or 1.

I feel like they close every 10 years or so.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Dick move not telling the employees.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

They have moved at least twice. I think they started out on Davis. This sudden shutdown is kind of weird.

I'm the rare Evanstonian who doesn't revere Dave's. I've never liked the place. I won't miss it. Maybe something good will go in that space.

A bunch of my friends worked there when we were in high school. This was when it was on Church Street across from the Dominick's. Back when Evanston had "The World's Largest Garage Sale" there was free parking for the garage sale in the Dominick's lot. A couple of my friends, Tom and Lefty (Lefty was right-handed. His real name was Dave, but about five guys named Dave worked at Dave's so someone said, "We're gonna call you Lefty.") were working on the Saturday of the garage sale. Tom made a big cardboard sign that said "GARAGE SALE PARKING- ONLY $1.00" and stood out in front of the Dominick's lot. He collected over 30 bucks before the cops came and ran him off.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

"Dick Move" is usually a big deal around my house.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

La Macchina is about a million times better than Dave's.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

place was a dump 25 years ago.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I haven't been for years, but I spent 9 years in Evanston between school and work, and Dave's was sort of a nice Macaroni Grill. I probably went there about 20 times with different parties of 4-8, and every time the meal was unmemorable except for the cramped conditions and the wait.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Worlds LArgest Garage Sale was awsome back in the day. Got my dog the massive bones there.

Like I said, Daves was a place that live on the fame of Longevity. Pizza was OK at best ...and I am guessing I attended it as a youth after they closed/moved the first time, thus when they said we just opened this week, it was probably after they moved.

Place reminds of me of Perrys Samiches. Guy had a good thing going (Might still) but kept closing and reopening downtown

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Ate there probably 10 times or so in the couple years I lived in Evanston. Don't remember it being particularly great but was reasonably priced .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

oh man just remembered those cheap pizzas. those were the worst!

Evanston had terrible pizza options back in the day. I used to prefer LaRosa, the greeziest pizza I ever et.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I'm going there next week. I'm not mourning the loss of some lauded or beloved institution. I'm not from Evanston . What I was looking for was a reasonable facsimile of the NW side corner joint pizza I grew up on, and theirs fit the bill.

EDIT: square cut all day.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

#TheGame

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"This is Chicago, my friend. Anything can happen."

As Hatchetman pointed out, there is a dearth of old-fashioned thin crust indie pizza joints in Evanston. I'm not sure where you live, but between LaRosa on Golf in Skokie and JB Alberto's in Rogers Park I think you can cover all of Evanston with those two authentic places for delivery.

I usually ordered something besides pizza at Dave's. All the Evanston goofs thought they had the world's best carbonara. Sheeeeit, I make a better carbonara every few months for the boys in the Italian club. Let's put it this way- I want a Jew representing me in court or installing my pacemaker. I don't want him making my red gravy.

La Macchina isn't a pizza place, but it's pretty good. Nice wine list at reasonable prices too.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

that place must have had a huge pot of spaghetti on the boil all day. when an order came in they'd just scoop some mush out of the pot.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Dave's excelled in doing nothing well--the food, service and ambiance were all mediocre at best.

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That's the perfect description. I'm not sure there has ever been a more overloved restaurant. I thought Hot Doug's was ridiculous, but at least he had a good product.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Leash excelling in mediocrity is what kept me from voting for him in finals.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

According to city documents, Glatt is applying for the loan ($30k from city officials) through non-traditional means because he is about to file for bankruptcy. Glatt said in his loan proposal he was trapped in a “negative cycle of debt” that, combined with issues caused from the 2008 recession, forced him to close the restaurant and file for bankruptcy.

Ald. Judy Fiske (1st), said retaining local businesses like Dave’s is important for both Evanston’s economy and community.

“He has given basically his adult life to feeding us here in Evanston,” Fiske told The Daily. “If we can at all help him we should try to.”

Yeah, he's been doing it out of the goodness of his heart...

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WTF.

Shots out of nowhere. And on my birthday, no less.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley