Spiro's Deli spent the last 30 years at 1210 Waukegan Road slicing gyro meat and building The Bomber into a local institution. This spring, after more than six decades in business, Spiro's packed up and moved into the heart of the new downtown, landing at 1880 Glenview Road on the northeast corner of Glenview Road and Lehigh Avenue.
That move tells you something the restaurant reviews won't. A deli that's been open since 1962 does not relocate on a whim, and it does not relocate toward a struggling business district. Spiro's moved because the Village of Glenview paid to build a downtown worth moving into, and the numbers behind that decision explain more about what's happening on this corridor right now than any list of new lunch spots could.
The Survey That Started It
In the process that led to the Village's Economic Development Strategic Plan and Downtown Strategic Plan, adopted by the Board on August 3, 2021, Glenview ran a multi-year outreach effort called Glenview Connect: board workshops, open houses, a virtual site tour, focus groups, an online survey. The takeaway was specific. Resident feedback showed a strong interest in a greater variety of local and high-end restaurants, shops, and special events, along with a preference for the Village itself to stay actively engaged in economic development rather than waiting for the market to sort it out on its own.
That last part matters. Glenview didn't just rezone for restaurants and hope. It started writing checks.
Village President Michael Jenny put it plainly when the Board approved another round of agreements: "There is so much momentum in our Downtown right now."
What The Money Actually Bought
Starting around 2023, the Village Board began approving a string of redevelopment agreements, grants, and forgivable loans tied to specific downtown addresses. Two of the largest were disclosed in an August 2024 announcement and remain public record.
| Business | Investment | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| The Foxtail at Glen View House | $1.4 million grant plus $1.5 million loan | Rehab of the historic 1843 Glenview Road building |
| Hometown Coffee & Juice | $500,000 grant | Demolition, parking, and outdoor dining buildout at 1869 Grove Street |
The Foxtail deal is the more interesting one to sit with. The building at 1843 Glenview Road is the old Glenview House, the site where the Village's own charter was adopted in 1899. The Village isn't just subsidizing a restaurant lease. It's putting $2.9 million into keeping a Mediterranean concept, already open in Des Plaines and Downers Grove, inside a building with more civic history than commercial upside on paper.
Hometown Coffee & Juice, which already has locations in Glencoe, Lake Forest, and Winnetka, got a similar push: the Village funded the demolition of an industrial building across from the downtown Metra station and built the parking and outdoor dining space around it as part of the tenant's buildout.
Twelve Months, Five Restaurants
Lay the openings out on a timeline and the pace becomes obvious. Jackman & Co., the first project from Ballyhoo Hospitality, opened in July of last year. Hometown Coffee & Juice followed that November. Ovvio Italian Taverna, formerly known as Bar Trullo, celebrated its official opening with a Glenview Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting this past December. Zenzi Den, Ballyhoo's second Glenview concept with a Japanese-influenced menu, opened this past winter. Spiro's Deli made its move into the new corridor this spring. Cerca, a 62-unit mixed-use apartment building with ground-floor retail, welcomed its first residents just last month, and the iconic bagel shop The Bagel has already signed a lease for space on Cerca's ground floor.
That's five new restaurants and a relocated 64-year-old deli inside twelve months, in a downtown corridor spanning Glenview Road, Waukegan Road, and Grove Street that the Village had spent years trying to fill in.
The Foxtail is now targeting an August or September opening at the Glenview House, later than the early April date the Village first floated. Even a fully-funded historic rehab slips its schedule once the plaster comes off the walls.
One more name is still on the way. Smoque BBQ, the Old Irving Park barbecue spot that's picked up national write-ups since it opened in Chicago in 2006, is planning its first-ever suburban location at the southwest corner of Waukegan and Grove, with construction anticipated to begin later this year.
A Saturday In The New Corridor
If you want to see what all that investment actually looks like on the ground, here's what a Saturday in downtown Glenview can hold right now:
- Morning at the Glenview Farmers Market, running Saturdays through October 24, with produce, meats, and baked goods sourced from within 200 miles of Glenview.
- A coffee stop at Hometown Coffee & Juice, across from the Metra station on Grove Street, in the building the Village cleared specifically to make room for it.
- An afternoon walk past 1843 Glenview Road, watching The Foxtail's front and back patios take shape ahead of its late-summer opening.
- Dinner at Ovvio or Jackman & Co., both new fixtures in the same downtown corridor anchored by the historic Glenview Metra station.
- A Wednesday evening alternative, if your week runs differently: the Bearfoot in the Park concert series at Jackman Park, part of the Village's summer community calendar.
None of that existed in this configuration two years ago.
Why The Old Guard Is Chasing The New Build
The Spiro's Deli move is the detail that separates this from a generic downtown-revitalization story. A business that's been open since 1962 doesn't need incentive money to survive. It had already survived six decades on Waukegan Road without it. Spiro's relocated because the Village had, by that point, made the case that downtown was worth being inside, and a business with six decades of local trust decided the new corridor was where its customers were headed next.
That's the actual thesis here. The restaurant wave on Glenview Road, Waukegan, and Grove Street didn't happen because the market discovered pent-up demand for Mediterranean food and artisan coffee. It happened because the Village surveyed its residents, heard a specific request for higher-end, more varied dining, and then put grants and loans behind operators who could deliver it, rather than leaving the storefronts to whichever chain signed the next available lease.
What It Means If You Already Live Here
If you've lived in Glenview through the years when downtown felt more like a drive-through than a destination, the pace of the last twelve months is the real story, more than any single opening. The Village put a number on what residents said they wanted, and that number now has storefronts attached to it: a 1899 building getting a $2.9 million second life, a barbecue institution making its first suburban bet on your zip code, and a 64-year-old deli deciding the new downtown was worth the move after three decades somewhere else.
The Foxtail's doors should open within the next month or two. Smoque BBQ's ground hasn't broken yet, but when it does, it will be the next name added to this stretch, chosen the same way the others were: an operator with a track record elsewhere, drawn in by an incentive the Village was willing to put in writing.
If you're weighing what a home near this corridor might be worth given the pace of investment here, Holly Connors and the GetBurbed team track exactly this kind of local detail for sellers and buyers across Glenview and the surrounding suburbs. Request a Free Home Valuation to see what the neighborhood's momentum means for your own address.
