76-Year-Old Elmhurst Eatery Closes Over Weekend

ELMHURST, IL – The last day for Mack's Golden Pheasant restaurant, which opened in 1948, was Sunday.

The eatery at 668 W. North Ave. was advertised as the oldest continuously owned restaurant in DuPage County.

The restaurant is believed to have closed to make way for the neighboring gas station's expansion.

According to its website, Czech immigrants Frank and Mae Mack converted a one-room tavern into the full-service Mack's Golden Pheasant.

In 1962, a fire destroyed much of the building, leaving only the north balcony. Frank and his son, Donald, rebuilt Mack's into its current form, the website said.

The building endured another brush with fire as well as a major Elmhurst flood in 1987.

Last summer, a developer approached the city to expand the Shell gas station at the southwestern corner of Route 83 and North Avenue. The idea was to make room to offer diesel pumps for trucks, including semis.

The developer plans to level Mack's Golden Pheasant to make way for the gas pumps.

During a meeting last summer, critics called the expanded station a truck stop, saying it would cause the already congested intersection of Route 83 and North to become more so. The developer disagreed.

In July, the Plan Commission approved the plan. A month later, though, members of the City Council's zoning committee said they needed more information from the state Department of Transportation before taking action. The project remains in zoning limbo.

Mack's owners couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Arnold Karolewski, an attorney with the Chicago-based Chuhak & Tecson law firm, tells a City Council committee in August that a proposed expanded gas station would be a truck stop and thus an unlawful use in Elmhurst. (David Giuliani/Patch)