New Restaurant Coming To Joliet At Troublesome Spot

JOLIET, IL —A mostly empty strip mall at Joliet's busy corner of South Chicago and McDonough Streets might be sprouting back to life thanks to the addition of a new Mexican restaurant.

There are now signs in the window and banners on the building proclaiming "Carnitas Aguascalientes #2" is coming soon.

The sign in the window, published in Spanish, translates to read: coming soon, authentic Mexican flavor. There is a Carnitas Aguascalientes located in Chicago Ridge, and that restaurant on West 107th Street averages 4.5 stars out of 87 Google Reviews.

The Carnitas Aguascalientes coming to Joliet's 410 South Chicago Street will fill the empty restaurant created by the Seafood Junction departure.

The Seafood Junction opened in the summer of 2021, but it only lasted in Joliet for one year. The restaurant menu included 33 selections for raw, steamed or fried entrées. The most expensive menu items were the 12 lamb chops with veggies for $87.99, three T-bone steaks with veggies for $58.99 and the eight lamb chops with veggies, also at $58.99.

At that time, Joliet Patch reported that the Seafood Junction filled the vacancy created by the closing of the Shark Fish & Chicken.

The Shark had a rating 0f 3.3 out of 5 stars out of 178 Google Reviews.

Last November, Mayor Terry D'Arcy and the Joliet City Council rejected a proposal to open a new liquor store in the same empty strip mall. The resolution before the Joliet City Council called for the denial of the proposed Class C liquor license for Osho's Wine & Spirits.

D'Arcy's letter urging the liquor license denial notes there have been 807 Joliet Police Department calls for service in the area "including several violent crimes" during the past two years.