By Bob Seidenberg
Gabi Walker-Aguilar, owner of 4Suns Juice Bar, said at a protest rally Thursday that she and her partner Byron Glapion were looking forward to opening at 1826-30 Dempster St., and presenting a healthy alternative to the Popeyes chicken restaurant proposed for the vacant space.
Their vision for the space “is to be called Choice Food Hall,” she told the crowd. It “would embody different styles of eating that are based in wholesome foods that are good for your bodies. Whether you are vegan, plant-based, pescatarian, meat eater, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy free.”
Popeyes might advertise its Louisiana origins, but Glapion, 4Suns’ chef, is originally from that area “so he can bypass what Popeyes can offer and give you that true New Orleans feeling,” Walker-Aguilar maintained.
Close to 60 people gathered at the rally near the protest mural that went up on the wall this week. The mural depicts a young Black woman and the words “Let Us Grow,” and a bright red “Mayor Biss, say no to Popeyes.”
“We want healthy food and we also want small and local businesses,” said Nancy Floy, founder and director of the Heartwood Center, one of the organizers. The holistic health and wellness collective is next door to the proposed Popeyes site.
“What we’re asking Mayor Biss specifically is to instruct city staff to follow the zoning law because as I think everybody knows three weeks ago they [city staff] approved Popeyes as the first sit-down [Popeyes] restaurant in the country, right here on the corner,” Floy told the assembled crowd. “They did that in two days, and then they hid it in hopes we wouldn’t find out, and we would miss the appeal date. We did find out and we are appealing and we will win at Land Use.”
Popeyes franchisee Karim Poonja, a Glenview resident, had originally applied and was approved to operate a Type 2 fast-food restaurant at the site. With neighborhood opposition mounting, he withdrew that application and reapplied as a Type 1 restaurant, generally reserved for sit-down restaurants.
City spokesperson Cynthia Vargas has said Popeyes’ Type 1 application was not listed on the city’s July 25 weekly zoning report because staff had already completed its zoning analysis.
‘Overwhelmed with unhealthy food choices’
Heartwood, a nonprofit, has offered to purchase the property, then provide the space on a lease-to-own basis to Aguilar’s 4Suns.
The business would pay property taxes in a lease to own arrangement, said Floy. “So they will not only lease this corner, they will own this corner,” she said to cheers at the rally.
‘Overwhelmed with unhealthy food choices’
Heartwood, a nonprofit, has offered to purchase the property, then provide the space on a lease-to-own basis to Aguilar’s 4Suns.
The business would pay property taxes in a lease to own arrangement, said Floy. “So they will not only lease this corner, they will own this corner,” she said to cheers at the rally.
Darlene Cannon, an activist and former Second Ward council candidate, noted the confluence of fast-food restaurants already at the corner. “We are burdened with a [fast-food] swamp here, we are overwhelmed with unhealthy food choices,” she maintained in an interview after.
Cannon pointed to health disparities between Black and White residents: A Health Department study several years ago showed Black residents in areas just west of the site had a life expectancy 13 years shorter than that seen in majority-white wards.
“Disparity is tied to the types of food that we eat,” she said later. “So we can’t say we’re for reparations but we’re going to disregard health right now.”
Biss congressional opponent praises turnout
The mayor and Councilmember Krissie Harris, whose Second Ward includes the site, were not in attendance. Eighth Ward Councilmember Matt Rodgers, the former chair of the Land Use Commission, was in attendance but declined an invitation from Floy to speak.
Harris earlier had backed city staff’s administrative review as appropriate for the Popeyes application, maintaining that the city has an established administrative process to address community concerns.
Kat Abughazaleh, one of nearly 15 candidates vying like Biss to succeed Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the 9th District Congressional seat, praised the turnout.
Abughazaleh, who has made her mark as a social media influencer, said “I think about how apathetic so many people are feel towards politics right now — people that aren’t voting, people that feel let down, and right now we have dozens of people out here, standing up for small businesses.”