Gullivers Pizza Closes For Good After 56 Years On Howard Street

CHICAGO — After more than three years on the market, longtime West Ridge pizzeria Gullivers has been sold, and its last day of service at 2727 W. Howard St. will be Sunday night, Block Club Chicago reported.

Gullivers, which first opened in 1965, was co-founded by Pequod's and Burt's Place founder Burt Katz, and Jerry Freeman, who reportedly quit an insurance job to run the pizzeria and pub. After the two went separate ways, Gullivers expanded into both neighboring businesses.

Before his death in 2006, Freeman amassed a large collection of antiques, filling the 350-seat restaurant with vintage light fixtures and other item dating back more than a century. After the property was listed for sale in 2019, an auctioneer was hired to sell off many of the items.

"Leaded and stained glass panels, taken from demolished Chicago buildings, hang from the ceilings. Antique iron grills divide every booth, and outside every booth are unique pairs of coat hooks. There is even a 100 gallon, stoneware, chemical vase by Royal Doulton, over 150 years old, sitting in the bar," according to an announcement of the antique sale. "The garden is a cornucopia of architectural fragments, including some from the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago."

Although they have sold the North Side location, father-and-son owners Chris and Dino Karageorgis will continue to operate Gullivers' Oakbrook Terrace location, at 17W517 Roosevelt Road, the Chicago Tribune reported.

General Manager George Gamilis told Block Club the new owner of the property is also a restaurateur, and the site could reopen as a kosher restaurant. Noting many customers were expressing sadness at the closure, he warned anyone coming for one last pie this weekend that they could be in for a long wait, as the restaurant is short-staffed.

Related:

• Gullivers On Howard Street Listed For Sale
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• Burt Katz, Owner Of Burt's Place, Dies At 78