Found Restaurant In Evanston To Close Ahead Of Building Demolition

EVANSTON, IL — Amy Morton's first restaurant will close in less than eight weeks, with its downtown Evanston location expected to be torn down to make way for a planned development.

The second-generation restauranteur announced this week that Oct. 2 will be the last evening of service at Found Kitchen and Social House, the farm-to-table restaurant at 1631 Chicago Ave she opened in 2012.

"Found is where so much started for me," Morton said, announcing the closure. "I re-entered the restaurant industry after starting a family and knew that in order to leave my three daughters each day to go to work, it had to be purposeful."

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Morton, the daughter of the late famed restauranteur Arnie Morton, launched The Barn Steakhouse in Evanston four years after opening Found. She founded her third suburban restaurant, Stolp Island Social in Aurora, in 2019.

"I look back at this experience with incredible pride, relishing in what we’ve achieved over the past decade," Morton said, citing Found's sustainability, social responsibility and equitable environment.

Though it was not planned that way, Found has had a management team composed entirely of women from the start, which Morton said has turned out to be an "integral part" of the success of her first Evanston eatery.

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Found's location — a one-story, 76-year-old building at 1621-1631 Chicago Ave. that also houses BC Cleaners and La Cocinita — is site of an 18-story planned unit development called the Legacy Evanston.

A previous version of developer Horizon Realty Group's proposal was rejected by the Evanston City Council in October 2020.

Last month, First Ward residents met with representatives of developer, which also owns The Merion, 1611 Chicago Ave.

And on Wednesday, the Evanston Land Use Commission is due to consider the developer's special use permit request for the mixed-use development, which would include 180 residential units, about 7,200 square feet of ground floor retailer and 57 parking spaces within a two-level garage.

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Morton has another project in the works that she hopes will employ some of the Found staff after the closure, according to Eater Chicago, which first reported the closure.

"I will forever cherish the people who made Found come to life," says Amy. "Our team who loves what they do (and continue to do), and our very special guest base are what has made Found become a home and within that home, a family."