Irene’s Finer Diner reopens two years after grease fire closed doors

Petros Papatheofanis fondly remembers stealing bacon off the griddle and being handed orange juice by the doting wait staff of his father’s North Center restaurant, Alps East.

Tuesday morning, he got to walk back through the same door with his mom — the namesake of the current space, Irene’s Finer Diner, and one of the many family members he worked alongside when Alps East was open, from 1986 to 2012.

Customers from the former restaurant greeted them both before ordering.

It came nearly two years to the day after the diner, at 2012 W. Irving Park Rd., was closed after a grease fire gutted the inside, though luckily no one was injured.

“My entire life essentially was in that restaurant,” Papatheofanis said. “It was a special place for us, so to get to open something in the same building my dad and mom and uncles worked, it was really cool. There’s a lot of nostalgia for me walking through the doors.”

The diner soft launched again May 2, closing once last week to catch up after a busy first weekend. A full reopen is still to come. In the meantime, the restaurateurs hope to introduce some signature alcoholic brunch drinks, including mimosas, as well as a potential brunch beer once their liquor license is cleared.

The current iteration of the North Center diner is open daily from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

It started four years ago through the efforts of Papatheofanis and co-owners Cristian Mendoza and Noah Zamler.

He said it was a “no-brainer” when the building his father had worked out of opened up again, though the COVID-19 pandemic put things on pause. Two years after opening, the fire put them out again, and navigating insurance and city permits took time.

But now with the doors open again, Zamler said they are focused on fine-tuning the menu. As they experiment and and introduce customers to some new tastes, he said they’re leaning on the trust they’ve built with the neighborhood through making many of their breads and sauces themselves, with locally sourced ingredients.

Among the new items is shakshuka, a North African tomato stew with two poached eggs, feta and a radish, alongside their in-house sourdough.

“It makes them try something they wouldn’t normally try, so why not get them out of their comfort zone?” Zamler said.

Of course the diner’s biscuits and gravy will return; Mendoza knows some regulars who would cause a fuss if they hadn’t.

The two-year construction gap was mostly filled with the bagel shop — Irene’s Bagels — the team opened at 1942 W. Montrose Ave. It’s also part of their future plan, as the trio want to open more bagel shops to bring local competition to the “bagel boom” they say the city has been seeing.

But ultimately, they said, they’re glad to be back at the diner, with their regulars in the diner where they say they can better connect with the neighborhood.

“We try our best to have connections there [at the bagel shop] but it’s more challenging,” Mendoza said. “The diner allows us to really connect with people in the community. … It brings joy and happiness to our hearts.”