The start of the school year means the end of more than just summer for Café Fontanathe local cafe that opened less than three months ago in the Kenilworth Assembly Hall.
According to Kenilworth Park District, the cafe will close at the end of August.
“It was a difficult decision,” said Park District Executive Director Johnathon Kiwala. “But the business was not sustainable.”
The cafe opened with a bang in the first week of June. To mark the opening of the cafe, which replaced the Kenilworth Cafe, community members were invited to a garden party with music, drinks and games for children.
While the opening generated a lot of excitement, “between the first week of opening and the rest of the summer, there was a pretty sharp drop in traffic,” Kiwala said.
The decision was made by Joe Machionna, head chef at Marco Roma Pizza and manager of Café Fontana, Kiwala said, and was based on financial factors.
The business did not receive enough support.
“They thought there would be more consistent and steady traffic,” Kiwala said, noting that there was a lot of advertising and publicity for the restaurant in the beginning. “They thought there would be more support, but that hasn’t happened.”
Currently the space is not being used for internal vendors. The Kenilworth Assembly Hall will continue to be available to Kenilworth community groups as a venue for meetings, programs and special events.
As the park district reimagined the use of the Assembly Hall and added entertainment and recreation in and around the space, officials in 2022 explored the addition a small cafe. The idea arose from the residents’ desire for a meeting place in the city center and close to the Metra station.
Kenilworth Community Café opened on September 19, 2022, serving simple coffee specialties and small breakfast dishes in an indoor/outdoor setting with 13 outdoor bistro tables and a 1,600 sq. ft. patio.
It was closed 18 months later.
Kiwala said planning for the space would have to start from scratch.
“We’re coming to the realization that a cafe might not be the right idea for this space,” Kiwala said. “We’ll just carry on as before.”
The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that relies on reader support for its independent local journalism.
Subscribe to The Record to fund responsible reporting for your community.
Are you already a subscriber? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.
