Chipper’s in Streator will close Friday; restaurant will reopen under new ownership

Beginning as a 16-year-old dishwasher at the former Oogies and working his way up the ladder, Chipper’s Grill owner John Brown has been in the restaurant business for 41 years and beginning 3 p.m. Friday he’s going to take some time to relax.

He’s closing the restaurant at 1733 N. Bloomington St. in Streator to retire from the business he started, after opening it 23 years ago.

Brown said a local person is going to purchase the business and reopen it with plans to retain the employees, “so it won’t stay empty very long.”

Brown — who managed both Oogies and Buster’s restaurants in Streator before opening his own — said he considers himself blessed to have had the customer support he’s had the past two decades.

“I’ve made a lot of friends with the customers — and talking to them on an every day, or weekly basis has been the favorite part of my business,” Brown said. “I’ll always have good fond memories of them, and stopping at their table to talk to them. That’s been the hard part to leave.”

Brown also said he’s grateful for the employees he’s had work for him over the last two decades.

“I’m smart enough to know that you can’t have the success we’ve had without great employees,” Brown said.

He said the past year working through the pandemic has “added some gray hairs,” but he said the business — which he opened for indoor dining against the governor’s second round of guidelines — made it through it, again crediting his customers and employees.

For him, it was more about timing. He said he vowed to walk away when his youngest son graduated from college, and that is scheduled to happen next week.

“Now is a good time to step away and let someone who is younger or energetic take over, someone who wants to put in the work,” Brown said.

The restaurant will honor any gift cards up to 3 p.m. Friday.

Brown said he was inspired to open Chipper’s 23 years ago, because he had been working long hours managing Oogies and Buster’s for other owners, and believed it was time to put in those hours for his own business.

He said there were some skeptics who gave him six months to survive, as the location he moved into had rotated through a few other restaurants — Golden Corral, Prime Table and Sweet Peppers.

“When I look back, I’m proud of running a successful restaurant business,” Brown said. “I can’t believe it myself, but my family has been supportive, and the community has been supportive. It’s just time now to slow down, and take a step back.”