Publications & Sites 
Zak’s Place in downtown Hinsdale to close its doors
Zak's Place, at 112 S. Washington St., in Hinsdale, closed its doors Saturday. | Kimberly Fornek—Sun-Times Media
Article Extras
Updated: January 14, 2013 4:46PM
HINSDALE — Zak’s Place will serve its last dinner Saturday.
The lease for the restaurant, which serves contemporary American cuisine that includes filet mignon, churrasco and risotto, at 112 S. Washington St., expired in August after five years, said general manager Oscar Sanchez.
“We tried to renegotiate the lease for the same or lower amount, but we couldn’t get an agreement,” he said.
Sanchez said the restaurant owners proposed renting less space in the building, but the building management was not receptive to that idea.
The Lipinskis of Western Springs were disappointed to hear Zak’s was closing. They came in Friday afternoon to make a reservation for later in the evening.
“There was always a nice mix of people here, families with children, older people,” said Rose Marie Lipinski, who was with her husband former Congressman Bill Lipinski.
Zak’s owners, Yamandu Perez and Phuong M. Van Valkenburgh, already opened a second restaurant, appropriately named Two near Grand and Ogden avenues in Chicago. That restaurant, which has been up and running since the first week in August, also serves contemporary American-style food, but with more of a Midwest touch, Sanchez said.
The name Two refers to the two owners and the fact that all the furnishings are secondhand.
“There’s a recycled bench from a bowling alley, doors from a church, mirrors from someplace else,” Sanchez said.
Although Sanchez has a job waiting for him at Two, many of the other employees from Zak’s will have to find another place to work, because the new restaurant already has its own staff, the workers said.
