On Feb. 24, the Oswego location of Tap House Grill announced its immediate closure on Facebook. Oswego housed one of the seven Tap House Grill locations across Illinois.
“We have enjoyed being a part of this town and engaging with this community for many years…Unfortunately, with every factor impacting restaurants today, we are just not able to continue to make it work,” stated Tap House Grill representatives on Facebook.
The Tap House Grill opened its doors in 2008. The closure followed its recent $100,000 renovation in 2020.
At the beginning of 2024, the Plainfield location of Tap House Grill closed its doors in a similar fashion.
“Unfortunately, the closing was attributed to a combination of high costs of operating a restaurant along with internal pressures it was facing,” said Kevin Leighty, an Economic Development Director. “We had met with Tap House multiple times throughout the past year to help in whatever way we could, especially after the Plainfield location closed.”
Many Oswego and Tap House Grill locals are disappointed with the closing since it was seen as a staple to the Downtown community, hosting various events and musicians throughout the year.
“I was devastated. [The Tap House Grill was] honestly a really nice place, they had good food and atmosphere, and it was a good place to go,” said OH junior Grace Wagner.
Many locals had shared how long it’s been since they had been there and it generally been over 3-4 years.
“I haven’t gone in a while, I’d like to say, since I was in 8th grade,” said sophomore Lonzo Quinones.
Since COVID-19, many local restaurants have struggled due to the rise of the mobile food industry. “I think competition in the food industry is getting tougher, and just the lack of customers,” said Wagner.
This impact has been seen throughout Oswego as Tap House Grill is now the third restaurant to close. As these buildings are available, The Village of Oswego is looking forward to new opportunities for new restaurants to call Oswego home.
“The Economic Development Department is actively promoting opportunities in downtown Oswego to prospective restaurants and developers,” said Leighty. “We also utilize an informational one-pager which we distribute to interested groups at trade shows, in meetings, and the like.”
Hi I'm Chayse! I'm a Senior at OHS and this is my first year on the 42Fifty team. When I'm not at school, I participate in activities such as BIONIC, Commotion, SOTC, and many various Honor Societies! You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
