Chicago Bagel Authority Reopens in Lake View After Tanning Bed Fire

By Andy Ambrosius

Lincoln Park's Chicago Bagel Authority is no longer the only location satisfying North Siders' bagel sandwich cravings.

The Lake View CBA has finally reopened its doors after a crippling fire forced owners to shutter about 10 months ago. The restaurant at 955 W. Belmont Ave. started serving food again this past Monday, opening to customers with nearly the same look and feel it had pre-blaze.

CBA—along with neighboring businesses Milios Hair Studio, Never Mind and Ultimate Exposure Tanning Salon—were damaged in aSeptember fire caused by a tanning bed. At the time, CBA owner Greg Gibbs hoped to only close the Belmont location for up to six months.

In the meantime, Gibbs ran all the restaurant’s operations out of the Lincoln Park location at 953 W. Armitage Ave. while simultaneously trying to keep his Lake View staff employed.

Milios Hair Salon and Ultimate Exposure are still closed after the fire, with Never Mind having moved to 3240 N. Clark St. shortly after taking damage.

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Never Mind’s former storefront at 935 W. Belmont Ave. will soon be one of 15 Blaze Pizza locations planned for Chicago. The pizza chain is similar to the recently shuttered Lake View restaurant Pizza Persona, formerly at 614 W. Diversey Pkwy.

Much like other fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle, customers direct servers behind a counter as to what they’d like on their pizza, and it’s assembled to order. Blaze Pizza’s website says the personal dish is cooked in 120 seconds.