The Capital Grille, a fine dining restaurant and steakhouse chain, plans to close its Skokie location in Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center at the end of May, according to a spokesperson for the establishment.
The restaurant’s final day of business will be May 31. The Skokie location of the chain opened at the mall in 2023.
“Unfortunately, after careful consideration, we’ve made the difficult business decision to close our Skokie restaurant,” said Leah Santiago, a communications manager for Darden Restaurants, which owns the Capital Grille chain, among others including Olive Garden, Seasons 52 and Yard House.
The Capital Grille is known for its extensive list of specialty wines, dry-aged steaks and seafood appetizers.
“Closing this restaurant is a difficult business decision, and it’s one we made very carefully and thoughtfully, particularly because it impacts our team members and our guests,” Santiago said in a statement.
“In no way does this reflect on the quality of our team members’ work, and we’re doing everything we can to help every team member find a new job.”
Santiago added that Darden Restaurants continues to evaluate the performance of all its restaurants, but there are “no plans to close any other locations at this time.”
Darden Restaurants operates additional Illinois locations of Capital Grille in downtown Chicago, Schaumburg, Lombard and Rosemont.
Santiago did not respond to a Pioneer Press request for details on why Darden decided to close the Old Orchard location.
Village of Skokie Communications and Community Engagement Director Patrick Deignan said the village is aware of Capital Grille’s closure plans, but declined to comment on whether any other restaurants or businesses are lined up to fill the soon-to-be-vacant space.
“Our Economic Vitality team is in communication with Westfield Old Orchard leadership and is available to support future plans for this premier space,” Deignan said.
Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center declined a Pioneer Press request for comment regarding the restaurant’s closure.
In February, Darden Restaurants announced its plans to permanently close 14 of its Bahama Breeze Island Grille locations and convert the remaining 14 locations into “another Darden brand” due to declining performance. None were in Illinois.
Darden said it anticipates that the remaining 14 locations will be converted over the next 12 to 18 months.
This comes in the wake of a reported total sales increase in the company’s most recent earnings report, which listed restaurant sales increasing by 5.9% to $3.3 billion versus the same fiscal quarter last year.
The fiscal 2026 third quarter financial report listed the increase as being in part driven by the sales from 31 net new restaurant chain openings.
“We delivered a strong quarter,” said Rick Cardenas, Darden Restaurants president and CEO in a statement for the fiscal quarter report.
“We continue to outperform the industry same-restaurant sales benchmark, and this quarter we widened that gap as Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen each significantly exceeded the benchmark.”
