The popular dive bar My Place is reopening later this year in West Ridge, located at 2212 W. Touhy Ave.
The wood-paneled bar first opened in mid-1971 under Bob Padgett before he passed away at the age of 87 and the business was taken over by his two children. The Padgett kids kept the bar alive until closing for good in September 2017. Now, cousins Chimoun Chlimon and Anthony Jarta are reopening the dive bar after five years and are planning to add a kitchen. Chilmon tells What Now Chicago they plan to open the tavern area of the bar in mid-summer while adding a kitchen by the end of the year.
The new kitchen will offer tacos, burgers, and pizza, according to Chlimon. In addition to adding a dining option, the cousins will add more inviting windows, giving the establishment more light. The bar’s interior and back patio will also be renovated. This isn’t Chilmon’s first business, as he owns Simon Tacos in Portage Park, which he opened in 2017. Although My Place was already in existence when the city instituted a liquor moratorium, Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) says the bar’s new owners cannot use the business’ previous license and would need the moratorium overturned to reopen.
“My Place is a bar that I know is a local community staple,” Jarta said at a recent community meeting. “I’m only 21 myself, but I’ve had friends come and tell me through their parents, ‘We love My Place. We have many memories here, and we’d really love to see it open again.'”
