City grants for Joliet restaurant group poised to top $230,000

Shaw Local

The Joliet City Council on Tuesday will vote on a $63,733 grant for Cut 158 Chophouse, which is part of a restaurant corporation that to date has received more than $168,000 from the city program.

The program was created in December 2024 to compensate businesses for lost sales that could be attributed to a major downtown construction project that restricted access to many Chicago Street storefronts.

The program so far has provided $277,105 to downtown businesses, according to numbers provided by the city.

City Manager Beth Beatty at a Monday workshop meeting for the council indicated that the grant program is nearing the end.

“This is the last tranche because we’ve opened Chicago Street,” Beatty said.

Equipment and materials sit in the middle of North Chicago Street as phase one to improve water and sewer line begins for the new City Square in downtown Joliet on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. — Equipment and materials sit in the middle of Chicago Street in August 2024 at the start of a major downtown construction project. (Gary Middendorf)

A section of Chicago Street, the main street downtown, was shut down for more than a year for street improvements and construction of the new Joliet City Square.

The grant program was created with the expressed aim of keeping business near the future square going, so they would be there when the project was finished.

Cut 158 Chophouse is one of three Chicago Street restaurants owned by the Joliet-based Arkas Restaurant Group.

Those three restaurants have received 60% of the city money awarded through the grant program so far.

Cut 158 Chophouse has previously received nearly $78,000 from the program.

Arkas also owns Juliet’s Tavern, which has received $78,013, and Mousa Greek Tavern, which has received $12,375.

Beatty noted that she had received questions about the program ahead of the Tuesday vote and pointed out that Bill Dimitroulas, president of the Arkas Restaurant Group, was at the meeting if council members had questions for him.

Bill Dimitroulas, president of the Arkas Restaurant Group, poses at Cut 158 Chophouse, one of six Joliet area restaurants he owns. — Bill Dimitroulas, president of the Arkas Restaurant Group, is seen at his Cut 158 Chophouse restaurant in this file photo. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia/Gary Middendorf)

The only questions from the council came from Councilman Larry Hug who asked staff to provide “an exhaustive list of who’s gotten what” from the program.

City Council approval is only required for grants of more than $25,000. Most of the grants have been awarded without council review.

City Economic Development Director Paulina Martinez said she would provide the list before the Tuesday council meeting.

Martinez said as of Monday “there are three other businesses that are in the pipeline to receive funding.”