Car crashes into Billy Corgan’s tea shop Madame Zuzu’s in Highland Park, injuring his mother-in-law

A car crashed into a popular tea shop owned by Smashing Pumpkins star Billy Corgan on Wednesday in suburban Highland Park, injuring the driver of the vehicle and the rock musician’s mother-in-law.

The vehicle plowed through a large window section at Madame Zuzu’s about 11:46 a.m. at 1876 First St. in Highland Park authorities said in a statement on the North Shore suburb’s Facebook page.

Two people, the driver of the vehicle and a patron of the restaurant, were taken to a hospital for treatment, authorities said.

While no further information was released on what caused the crash, authorities said the incident appeared to be accidental, citing preliminary information.

In a statement on Instagram, Corgan’s wife, Chloe Mendel Corgan, said her mother, Jenny, was the patron who was injured after the car “drove over the curb” and smashed into the store, adding that her mother was having lunch with the Corgans’ son Augustus, at the time.

Chloe Mendel Corgan said her son “was able to leap out of the way and was not injured.”

The tea shop will be closed until “further notice,” she said.

The hole left behind by the crash was boarded up by mid-afternoon. Crews with Alliance Disaster Kleenup were seen entering the building with shovels and brooms.

“Zuzu’s is closed” read a sign taped to the door of the shop, which offers plant-based food like carrot lox toast and other healthy options.

That’s what drew Jennifer Camphena to the store in the first place. Camphena, who lives in Uptown, cycled from her North Side neighborhood to the suburb Wednesday morning to try Zuzu’s blue matcha drink.

The store was closed by the time she arrived. While she was disappointed she wouldn’t get to taste the beverage because of the incident, she hoped no one was seriously injured in the crash.

“I feel terrible for the family, and I hope everybody is going to be OK, the driver and the Corgan family,” she said. “I don’t want anybody to be hurt. My treats can wait.”

Camphena said she and her friends, many of whom are vegetarian, bike to Highland Park as frequently as they can and usually stop at the store. “It’s really nice to come up here and have a great menu that we can choose from.”

The restaurant also hosts concerts, and Billy Corgan is known to perform there.

“It has been a really lovely place,” Camphena said.