Evanston’s downtown Burger King — the only 24-hour restaurant downtown — closed permanently this week.
The long-time fixture for hungry Northwestern students — where Meghan Markle, the future Duchess of Sussex, says she put on her freshman 15 pounds — has operated on a land lease that expires next year, and the property owners have decided not to renew it.
The building is now listed for sale with Steve Frishman of Mid America Real Estate Corporation. The listing says it’s the first time the property has been on the market in several decades and, as one of the few downtown sites with surface parking, would offer a new restaurant owner the chance to open a large outdoor patio.
Evanston’s community development manager, Paul Zalmezak, says it may be more likely that the building will be demolished and the site redeveloped for another use.
The Burger King at 1829 Dempster St. remains open.
Another chain restaurant is about to close. The Starbucks in the 500 block of Dempster Street is shutting its doors on Dec. 27. Katherine Gotsick, director of the Main/Dempster Mile marketing association, says the lack of a drive-thru apparently hurt the profitability of that Starbucks.
Evanston has seven other Starbucks locations.