Lease dispute may force Bridgeport's Jimbo's to close
 
By Tim Weldzius

Frank Sinatra songs and meatball sandwiches had been living together in perfect harmony on the corner of 33rd Street and Princeton Avenue, but now both might be on their way out. After 22 years of business, Jimbo’s restaurant and bar lost its lease and was ordered to vacate its building, just blocks away from U.S. Cellular Field.

Owners Joyce and Joe “Jimbo” Levato received a letter from their landlords stating their lease was being terminated and they had to move out by Saturday, Sept. 30. The letter was signed by attorney Sheldon Belofsky and said the Levatos should not attempt to contact the building owners, Raymond and Donna DeGrazia.

The Levatos, however, defied the order and did not move out at the end of the month.

“We’ll wait until it goes to court,” Joyce Levato said. “We have a lot of pictures on the wall still, and it would take a while to just pack everything up. We can’t leave when the Sox are still playing, because this place is packed [with fans] on game nights.”

Attorney John Winters, who represents Jimbo’s, was told the DeGrazias plan to open another bar and restaurant at the site. Winters, however, has found no concrete evidence to prove this.

“The uniqueness of this situation isn’t where you have a landlord that says ‘I want to open a condo or a shoe factory in this space, so now you have to leave,’” Winters said. “What’s unique about this is that [DeGrazia might be saying] ‘We’re going to open up our own bar or our own restaurant at this spot.’  It’s a little different.”

Throughout his legal career, Winters has never seen a case in which a landlord terminated a proprietor’s lease and then opened another, almost identical establishment in its place.

The lease termination could not have come at a worse time for the Levatos. Jimbo’s saw a marked increase in business throughout the White Sox’s magical 2005 season. Also, because Jimbo’s is essentially the only drinking establishment near U.S. Cellular Field, it became the backdrop for many television news broadcasters during the World Series and gained national prominence. Jimbo’s also runs its own website and now sells hats and t-shirts.

“There is no business here in the winter,” Joyce Levato explained. “It’s next to nothing. It’s just on game nights [that we get business]. Now, we’re finally getting some good business and we’re being told to leave.”

The tavern also is family operated. A son tends bar, two granddaughters help out in the kitchen, and another granddaughter serves up steak sandwiches and mostaccioli to hungry Sox fans as Sinatra tunes play on the jukebox. 

If the family eventually is forced out of the building, they probably will not reopen elsewhere.

“We’re so close with all the Sox games all these years,” Joyce Levato said. “It would have to be in the same area, and there just isn’t space for another bar like this. We couldn’t be as close to the ballpark.”

Most Jimbo’s patrons are shocked and disappointed their favorite pre-game hangout might not be around for the 2007 season. Joyce noted a group of loyal customers had started up a petition to keep Jimbo’s at its current location; it garnered 180 signatures the night it was started, and the Levatos might use the petition in court.

Before a pivotal game against the first-place Detroit Tigers in September, a couple of Jimbo’s regulars reflected on what they will miss about the watering hole.

“The atmosphere here is great, because it’s just real baseball fans,” said John Dul, who started going to Jimbo’s in 1984. “Plus, you get fans of the visiting team who come in here, too. It’s a different crowd, but it speaks to what I like about the South Side. The people here are very unpretentious.”

Longtime Sox fans are used to seeing their favorite taverns demolished. Another famous Sox-fan favorite bar, McCuddy’s, was razed to make room for U.S. Cellular Field.

“This is really the last link to the old Comiskey Park,” said Geno Kusy, another patron. “When they ripped down McCuddy’s, it was supposed to be rebuilt somewhere else, but that never happened. Then, it was just Jimbo’s. Now I don’t know where people are going to go.”

Not all of Jimbo’s past customers are sad to see the place go, however. Some customers felt betrayed by the bar when it began to attract more fans last year.

Jimbo’s "won't be missed except by the Fox Sports people who think ‘South Side Chicago’ is a different town than Chicago,” said Sox fan Bob Horwitz. “The staff was rude before the 2005 playoffs. Then [Joe Levato] went Hollywood on us with the $4 12-ounce cans of Lite beer.”

Regardless of whether they like Jimbo’s, most Sox fans agree U.S. Cellular Field needs more bars and restaurants nearby. Clearly, closing Jimbo’s is a step in the wrong direction for these fans.