Just before 11 a.m. on Friday morning, two Northwestern students approached the door of Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen in downtown Evanston. They stopped, looking at the bright yellow sign on the door that read “permanently closed” in bold letters. One leaned forward, cupping his hands around his eyes and squinting through the glass door into the darkened restaurant. The other hung his head, pressing his forehead and fist against the glass.
“It was devastating to say the least,” Medill sophomore Dylan Lanier said. “It was almost akin to like, the Earth fell out from under me.”
On Thursday night, Guzman y Gomez announced it was ceasing operations in the U.S. and immediately shuttering all of its locations in the country. The Australian chain cited poor sales and surging inflation, saying fuel, food and employment costs had damaged the company’s margins.
Several NU students said they found out through friends’ group chats or the chain’s Instagram post. First-year Kellogg MBA student Joey DePetrillo said he was “at a loss for words” when he found out. DePetrillo, who said he visited the restaurant around four times per week, said he’s leaving for a summer internship next week.
“I have all summer to figure out what’s going to fill that Guzman y Gomez hole in my heart,” he said. “But I’m not sure yet.”
First-year Kellogg-McCormick MMM dual-degree program student Kajal Patel said she found out from her friends, whom she described as “obsessed” with the restaurant. She called it one of the higher-quality spots in Evanston and noted that the closure fits a troubling pattern downtown, pointing to the recent closings of Chili’s and Peppercorns Kitchen.
The Guzman y Gomez Evanston store manager declined to comment on the record.
For Evanston resident Jeff Plewa, the closure points to a story that’s “bigger than downtown Evanston.”
“The policies of the Trump administration are making it very difficult for ordinary citizens and business owners to thrive in this economy, with rising inflation fueled by tariffs,” Plewa said. “The U.S. economy is less and less a desirable option for global corporations.”
Guzman y Gomez co-CEO Steven Marks told Reuters that the company would require a substantial increase in time and capital to sustain its locations in the U.S. An official at the company also declined to comment on if and how the war in Iran impacted the decision.
The company opened its first U.S. location in Naperville, Illinois in 2020 and later expanded to other Chicago suburbs. The chain opened its Evanston location last March as part of what would become eight total stores across the Chicago area.
Lanier said when the chain opened, he was initially skeptical. He said he thought it was “just another Chipotle.” However, he came around after trying the restaurant and said it quickly became clear to him that they had quality food at low prices.
“This is a symbol of how closed-minded we are as American consumers to anything that doesn’t match the cultural norms of what we’ve been eating,” he said. “It’s a travesty.”
Email: [email protected]
X: @BethkeTia
Related Stories:
— Australia-based Guzman y Gomez opens Evanston eatery to lengthy lines
— ‘Detroit has cars. Evanston has bakeries’: Beth’s Bake Shop returns to Central Street
