In January, Salerno's Pizzeria closed at 821 Burlington Ave. In April, The Opry cocktail bar closed at 4354 Johnson Ave. Over the summer, a restaurant group planned to swap out Davanti Enoteca at 800 Hillgrove Ave. for a different brand. That makes three downtown addresses where food and drink were in question in 2026.
As December starts, all three rooms are still places to eat or drink. The pizzeria space is becoming a sit-down Italian restaurant run by the owner of Hillgrove Tap. Two Western Springs residents turned the cocktail bar into a wine shop that pours by the glass. The planned Davanti swap was called off. Downtown Western Springs spent 2026 changing who runs two of its dining rooms, and all three rooms stayed in food and drink. Those rooms land in the same few weeks as the village's busiest holiday weekend.
| Address | Start of 2026 | What happened | Heading into December |
|---|---|---|---|
| 821 Burlington Ave. | Salerno's Pizzeria | Closed in early January | Alano Ristorante, Italian, from Chris Elsey |
| 4354 Johnson Ave. | The Opry, cocktail bar | Closed in April | The Clever Drinker, wine shop with a pour menu |
| 800 Hillgrove Ave. | Davanti Enoteca | Owner planned to replace it with Vasili's | Davanti Enoteca, staying |
Burlington Avenue: a pizzeria space goes white tablecloth
The Salerno's space sat empty through the spring. Patch reported in March that the pizzeria had closed in early January, leaving a gap on Burlington across from the Metra tracks.
The person who filled it already ran a business a few doors away. Chris Elsey owns the Hillgrove Tap locations in Western Springs and Tinley Park, and Patch reported in July that he planned Alano Ristorante for 821 Burlington. At that point he was aiming for late October.
That date moved. In an October update, Patch reported that Elsey hoped to open on Nov. 20 "or maybe sooner." The same story covers the kind of room he plans. His liquor license application calls Alano an "elegant Italian restaurant," with an estimated $30 to $45 per person, depending on drinks. Elsey was formerly the managing partner of Francesca's, the Italian chain with suburban locations that include Elmhurst and Naperville.
Alano's website names Massimo Salatino as chef and partner.
For a corner of Burlington known for pizza, $30 to $45 a head is a change in price and pace. It also gives one owner two different rooms in the same small downtown. Hillgrove Tap covers the casual end, and Alano is set up for the longer, dressier dinner.
Johnson Avenue: a bar becomes a bottle shop with a few seats
The Opry opened in early 2024 and closed this spring. The space at 4354 Johnson Ave. went to Aron Dorner and Alex Corral, two Western Springs residents. Patch reported in late August that their wine bottle shop, The Clever Drinker, was set to open at noon on Saturday, Aug. 29.
The owners told Patch they were after "high-end curation," "zero stuffiness" and "just clever sourcing for curious drinkers." Their first plan focused on retail, with a "small by-the-glass program" saved for a later phase.
The shop's own site now describes that later phase as part of the offer:
"Pull up a seat for a glass from our rotating pour menu, or let us help you find your new favourite bottle to take home."
That line comes from The Clever Drinker's website, which also says the business "began in London" before finding "its new home right here in Western Springs."
So the corner that held a cocktail bar still has seats and a glass in hand. What changed is that most of the business now walks out the door in a bag. That's useful in December, when a host gift or a bottle for a holiday table is the errand.
Hillgrove Avenue: the swap that didn't happen
The third address is the one where nothing changed. Davanti Enoteca, the Italian restaurant at 800 Hillgrove Ave., belongs to Bensenville-based Scott Harris Hospitality. The same company owns Vasili's, a Mediterranean restaurant with a location in Naperville. The company had planned to turn the Western Springs Davanti into a Vasili's.
It dropped that plan in early September. Patch reported that the village confirmed Davanti is staying. Davanti's Western Springs page still lists the Hillgrove address with weekly hours and reservations.
Put next to Burlington, this leaves downtown with two Italian dining rooms a short walk apart. One is a known room that nearly became something else. The other is a new room under an owner already working downtown. Neither address went dark for the holidays.
Where the December weekend lands
The new and kept rooms matter most on one stretch of the calendar. The first weekend of December puts several of the village's biggest holiday draws within a few days of each other. For someone choosing dinner before a show or a glass after Santa photos, these are the downtown addresses on the list.
The Western Springs Business Association runs Winter Wonderland & Photos with Santa, and sign-ups are open now for four days across two weekends. The village calendar lists Winter Wonderland on Saturday, Dec. 5.
Here's the run of dates, in order:
- Saturday, Nov. 28, and Sunday, Nov. 29: the first two Photos with Santa sign-up days through the business association.
- Friday, Dec. 4: Theatre of Western Springs opens Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, which runs through Dec. 13. Tickets are on the theatre's ticketing page.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Winter Wonderland on the village calendar, plus a Photos with Santa sign-up day. The Children's Theatre of Western Springs opens Holiday Matilda the same day with 9:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. shows. That morning, Thomas Ford Memorial Library hosts a drop-in, family-friendly Hundred Acre Woods Celebration from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: the last Photos with Santa sign-up day, and a 7 p.m. performance of Holiday Matilda.
- Wednesday, Dec. 9: a sensory-friendly performance of Cinderella at 6 p.m.
Holiday Matilda keeps going after that first weekend. It plays Dec. 7 and 8, then Dec. 12 through 15, with 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. shows on the Mondays and 3 p.m. on the Tuesdays.
One village service runs through the whole season. Holiday light collection and recycling started Nov. 16 and continues through Jan. 31, with drop-off at Village Hall, Village Ace Hardware and Thomas Ford Memorial Library. A strand that died on the porch railing can go back downtown on the same trip as dinner.
What a year of near-misses left behind
Over the past eleven months, each of these three addresses could have gone a different way. The Burlington space could have stayed empty past the holidays. The Johnson Avenue room could have gone to a use with no seats. The Hillgrove restaurant could have changed its whole menu. Instead, a downtown operator took the first space, two residents took the second, and the third kept its sign. The Western Springs downtown that hosts the first December weekend has the same storefront rooms it started the year with, two of them under new operators at new prices and the third under the company that already ran it.
Storefronts like these are often what buyers ask about first and what sellers mention last, and on blocks this small, one changed room shows up quickly. If you're thinking about a move to or from a home within walking distance of Burlington and Hillgrove, Matt Laricy and the LARICY Team track these blocks every week. List with Laricy, sell faster, and reach more buyers.
