The brew pub craze may be about to strike again in Evanston. City officials are reviewing plans to locate one at 1801 Central St.
Tom Gariti, who has worked at restaurants in Wilmette, says he and his partner Doug Stoffer, who formerly worked at Urban Legend Brewing in Westmont, hope to open what they’re calling Central Street Brewing Company in a year or so, assuming city officials approve plans for the project.
Gariti says they plan to offer high end bar food along with the beer they’ll brew on site in what until a few years ago was a transmission repair shop.
Community Development Director Mark Muenzer said Gariti filed a request for a zoning analysis of the proposed use earlier this month.
If the project is deemed to be a dine-in restaurant with the brewery as an ancillary operation, Muenzer said, it would not require a special use permit from the city.
Muenzer says the plans show seating for about 100 people toward the front of the building with a bar facing the brewing tanks that would be located toward the rear.
The stretch of Central Street just east of the Metra tracks has seen considerable development recently
The 1801 building is just a few doors away from the planned new home for the Evanston Art Center.
The Ten Mile House restaurant opened last month on the other end of the block at 1700 Central in the recently opened Central Station apartment complex.
Evanston gained its first two brew pubs this year, with Smylie Bros. opening on Oak Avenue downtown last June and Peckish Pig opening last March on Howard Street.
The city has also recently gained a craft brewery, Temperance Beer Company, on Dempster Street, and a nano-brewery Sketchbook Brewing Company, on Chicago Avenue.