A suburban time capsule of a diner founded in 1978, What’s Cooking had a distinct Ashkenazi Jewish deli bent, sating patrons of all backgrounds with homey hits like kreplach, massive matzo balls in soup, and corned beef sandwiches alongside breakfast standards. It closed in 2012.

If diner signage is an art unto itself, Big Top Restaurant might well have been the Louvre. Housed inside an otherwise unremarkable squat suburban building, the diner was crowned by a red-and-yellow replica of a circus tent and had a soaring neon sign that proclaimed it “famous for our fountain creations.” Big Top encapsulated the essential elements of any diner: solid breakfast items, friendly service, and affordable prices. The diner closed in 2019 after more than four decades in business. Right down the block, another famed diner, Golden Flame, was extinguished after CVS bought the property.

It was all eggs all the time at Over Easy, a cozy Ravenswood haunt crammed with photographs, paintings, and sculptures of eggs. Fans flocked to the diner for numerous egg dishes, most notably Sassy Eggs — two runny yolks on a pile of chorizo-jalapeno-red pepper hash, smothered in cheese, sour cream, and ancho ketchup. In 2017, the Tribune dubbed it “Chicago’s crown jewel of egg dishes.” It closed in 2021 after 15 years.

A Greek diner with a Civil War-themed menu, the Lincoln Restaurant paid homage to one of Illinois’ most famous sons, complete with an enormous sign bearing Abraham Lincoln’s face at the corner of Lincoln, Damen, and Irving Park. Home of the Honest Abe Burger and a weekly Banjo Night, the diner was a fixture dating back to the 1970s. It closed in 2013 but its building and sign remained for another three years before being razed.

There was no Jim at Jim’s Grill, a hole-in-the-wall diner that began its tenure as a hot dog spot in the early 1980s. Instead, there was David Choi, a chef who moved to Chicago from California in 1984 to help his sister run the business. Choi’s arrival was a catalyst that transformed Jim’s into a restaurant ahead of its time, serving Korean and vegetarian food while luring a host of then-underground musician regulars like Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and Dead Rider guitarist Todd Rittmann throughout the 1990s. The diner closed in the mid-2000s, but Choi’s cooking can be sampled at Amitabul.

After a quarter century of providing Avondale with a reliable, affordable — albeit divey — 24-hour diner, Belmont Snack Shop’s tenure came to a screeching halt in 2020 when a fire gutted the building. Despite a brief moment of hope that the worn restaurant, an unfussy retreat for neighbors, late-night partiers, and commuters alike, would rebuild, co-owners Nelson Rodriguez and Paul Schiller ultimately closed for good. To fans, the loss represented more than a simple closure. The diner was a relic of a working-class neighborhood that’s undergone rapid change in recent years.

Sealed into the annals of history by comedian John Mulaney, the Salt & Pepper Diner began its reign in 1965 on Lincoln avenue and went on to earn generations of fans over many decades with its milkshakes, burgers, and unironically retro vibe. The original diner closed in 2013 but a Wrigleyville outpost remained until 2016, when it was displaced by a massive redevelopment project that brought about multiple restaurant closures.

Johnny’s Grill, an iconic greasy spoon immortalized by the Art Institute of Chicago, was a casual breakfast and lunch mainstay for more than 30 years, winning the hearts of neighbors, industry workers, and local officials along the way. It closed in 2014 but reopened over a year later with a more cheffy menu. Johnny’s closed permanently in 2017 and has since been replaced by ‘90s-themed sandwich spot Big Kids.

The iconic site of complex local history, the original Belden Deli was a 24-hour Ashkenazi Jewish diner founded in 1957 in a small strip mall at the northeast corner of Clark and Belden. Beloved for both its old-school fare and rich cultural symbolism, it still lives large in the hearts of deli devotees long after the restaurant closed in 1989 and its building was razed. It was then replaced by a huge development containing another now-relic — Tower Records — and in 2012 wound up housing a new Belden Deli (from different owners) that lasted less than a year, and in 2013 became Eleven Lincoln Park, an outpost of South Loop’s Eleven City Diner that closed after four years.

The Original Mitchell’s was a two-location chain, with spots on North and Clark and another on Clybourn and Racine. Often confused with Lou Mitchell’s, the menu was a little different, a descendant of Jewish delis but with more breakfast foods. Eventually, Mitchell’s became Michael’s North with a new logo, but the menu was kept more or less the same. The restaurant was wiped out in 2012 when a luxury residential development opened. 

Wicker Park’s death as an edgy and affordable neighborhood was announced with the closure of Leo’s Lunchroom, a welcoming restaurant with exceptional breakfast fare. The customers really came from a variety of walks of life; at the end of its life, the backroom was covered with promo material from Hoop Dreams, the exceptional documentary about Chicago high school basketball. Leo’s was around for more than four decades, one of the only restaurants along Division Street, a far cry from the new construction that dominates west of Ashland. Leo’s was a place to center yourself, to grab a great meal to get the morning to a tremendous start. Nothing has filled the void since it closed in 2005.

The Ohio House space is currently a revolving door, with Leghorn Chicken and Cafe Tola the latest to make use out of the tiny restaurant attached to a hotel. While real estate boomed in River North, affordable restaurants became an endangered species. The Ohio House provided a beacon until closing in 2013. It had a 53-year run.

Retro mid-century charm was the main attraction at Depot American Diner, which embraced nostalgia with blue-plate specials, egg creams, phosphates, and fresh pies for dessert. Depot earned a nod from Flavortown mayor Guy Fieri and was featured in a 2009 episode of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

The Clarke’s chain was once mighty, with locations in Hyde Park, Lincoln Park, Evanston, Rogers Park, and Lakeview. The restaurant’s heyday in the ‘90s, before Wi-Fi, and its menu wasn’t anything terribly novel: burgers, salads, wraps, and more. But hordes of DePaul, Loyola, and Northwestern students, along with after-bar revelers, crowded into this space on a regular basis.

Billy’s Grill flew under the radar on the southwest side until closing before the pandemic in 2018. This family-owned diner wasn’t much to look at, but fans loved the burgers and omelets. A beacon for an affordable and delicious meal.