Restaurant announced for new office tower

If you like pizza, pasta, or salads, you’ll soon be able to Have It Your Way at the site of what used to be the Burger King in downtown Evanston.

Trammell Crow, developer of the ten-story Evanston Labs building, announced on Monday that a restaurant called Etta will occupy the 7,000 square foot retail space on the first floor.

According to Crain's Business Chicago, the plan is for Etta to open next summer.

Etta has two other locations in Chicago.

A news release from David Pisor, CEO of Etta's parent company quoted in Crain's, says, "We are thrilled to be opening our third Chicago restaurant at the North Shore's most anticipated new development, Evanston Labs."

The building will house employees involved in scientific research, and is expected to have room for about 650 workers.

Downtown needs more workers for restaurants and shops to keep recovering from the pandemic, as daytime population is far below pre-COVID levels, due to a shift to at-home work.

Scientific lab researchers will have to come to the office to do their work, and presumably will want to eat lunch.

Maybe downstairs.

Jeff Hirsh joined the Evanston Now reporting team in 2020 after a 40-year award-winning career as a broadcast journalist in Cincinnati, Ohio. More by Jeff Hirsh