Downtown Naperville's New Arrivals Are Built for a Quick Stop

At 22 E. Chicago Ave., you order pizza by pointing at a tray and saying how much you want. The server cuts the slice with scissors and weighs it to set the price. Then it goes back in the oven and comes out cut into small bites for sharing. That's how Bonci works, and its Naperville shop opened on Wednesday, Aug. 26. I Heart Gyro, a separate business, also opened in the same storefront and was confirmed open by mid-October.

Most of downtown's fall openings follow the same pattern: a compact counter, a short menu, and an owner who already runs the concept somewhere else. A few blocks away, the biggest dining-and-entertainment space on Jefferson Avenue is empty again.

One Storefront on Chicago Avenue, Two Different Counters

Bonci started in Rome, where pizza maker Gabriele Bonci opened the original shop in 2003. The brand came to Chicago in 2017 and has since opened in Milan and Dubai. Naperville is its first location outside Chicago and its fourth in the United States. Bonci USA owner Chakib Touhami put it plainly to NCTV17: "We went to Rome. You don't have to go to Rome. You just come here."

The menu changes often, sometimes daily, depending on which local ingredients are available. One seasonal combination is peach with ricotta and smoked salmon, and there are vegetarian options. Gabriele Bonci himself is expected to visit for a book signing later this fall. As of late August, no date had been set.

I Heart Gyro took over a spot that had been another gyro shop. Owner Khalil Faykov opened the first I Heart Gyro in Vancouver, Washington, about ten years ago, then moved to Aurora to be closer to family. He told the Daily Herald, "Hopefully this will become the spot for gyros in the area."

So in one storefront you can now get Roman pizza sold by weight and a fast-casual gyro. Both are meals you can finish in half an hour, and both come from owners who had already proven the concept somewhere else.

Jefferson Avenue, Address by Address

The same pattern runs along a few blocks of Jefferson Avenue. Here is where each address stood in mid-October:

Lola's is known for churro sundaes, and its drink menu includes mango lemonade and specialty lattes. Across the street at No. 15, Cantina Taco Grill plans to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. The menu includes bone marrow and pork belly tacos and salmon with mole sauce. Owner Jose Oliver had aimed to open on Sept. 15 but pushed the date back because of unforeseen issues. The Oct. 29 date was still on the calendar as of mid-October.

No. 16 is the exception on the block. Lennon's opened there in August 2025 as a mixed dining-and-entertainment concept, and as the Daily Herald reported, the idea was for guests to "come and stay." It closed in September after about a year. Before Lennon's, the space held AltaVida, a Latin-inspired entertainment complex with a casual Spanish cafe, which also closed in less than a year. Downtown Naperville Alliance Executive Director Dawn Portner told the Daily Herald that no reason was given for the Lennon's closure.

Two neighboring spaces are now waiting for their next tenants, No. 16 and 24 W. Jefferson. Everdine's owners Brian and Kelly Herkert closed there on July 17. As of Oct. 7, a new company had bought the space, and Naperville Development Partnership President Monica Conners told NCTV17 the buyers were "touring it right now with some really interesting concepts."

Almost Every New Name Already Runs Another Location

The owners behind this fall's openings:

• Lola's Handcrafted Churros: Owner Mayra Serna already runs shops in Lisle and Yorkville, which makes Naperville the third location.
• Cantina Taco Grill: Jose Oliver also owns Taco Grill and Salsa Bar in Westmont. He told the Naperville Sun he had wanted a downtown Naperville restaurant for 15 years.
• Bonci: Started in Rome in 2003, came to Chicago in 2017, and opened its first suburban shop here.
• I Heart Gyro: About ten years in business in Vancouver, Washington, before coming here.
• SEE Eyewear: The 214 S. Main St. store will be its fifth, after one in Skokie and three in Chicago.
• State & Liberty: The menswear brand has more than 50 stores nationwide. Naperville will be its first outside Chicago and its second in Illinois.

Deep Purpl, a Brazilian açaí bowl cafe, is now open at 120 Water St. as well. It's another quick, single-item counter in the core of downtown, just like the churro shop and the pizza counter.

Every one of these owners chose downtown Naperville after already testing the concept somewhere else. The fall openings look like expansions by operators who have done this before, and fewer of them are first-time experiments.

The Traffic Numbers Behind the Leases

Conners presented the openings at the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce's 2026 State of the Naperville Commercial Real Estate event on Oct. 7, held at the Yellow Box. She said Naperville now has more than 400 restaurants. She also said downtown economic growth, which the city tracks with Placer AI software, was up 15% year over year as of that October presentation. Block 59 was up 125% over the same period.

Those figures help explain the confidence. A downtown reporting 15% economic growth over a year earlier is the kind of place a brand opening its fourth, fifth or fiftieth store can justify. The same numbers coexist with the closures. Everdine's owners cited rising costs, along with the lasting effects of construction and COVID, and Nike at 217 S. Main St. closed on July 13. Rising traffic brings in new tenants, and rent and operating costs still decide which ones stay.

What's Still Coming Downtown

Here's the rest of the fall and early winter, in rough calendar order, based on the most recent reports:

1. Cantina Taco Grill, 15 W. Jefferson Ave.: scheduled to open Oct. 29.
2. SEE Eyewear, 214 S. Main St.: now expected in November, after an earlier mid-October target.
3. State & Liberty, 144 W. Jefferson Ave.: targeting mid-to-late November.
4. Slyce of NY, 215 S. Washington St.: finishing its buildout and expected soon, with no date announced.
5. Barry's, the fitness studio headed for Main Street Promenade East at 50 S. Main St.: described on Oct. 7 as still a couple of months from opening.
6. Lizzano, an Italian restaurant with four Chicago locations: "still in the early phases" of a move into a Water Street space, Conners told NCTV17.

If you want to try something new beyond downtown, a few spots opened in October elsewhere in town. Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse opened Oct. 1 at 2856 Patriot's Lane. Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai opened Oct. 10 at 1603 N. Aurora Road. Vasco's Peri Peri started a soft opening the week of Oct. 6 at 3124 S. Route 59. On Route 59, a cat cafe at 1550 N. Route 59 plans to open in mid-November with 10 rescue cats from the Wheaton-based Animal Rescue Foundation, all available for adoption.

Downtown, the two addresses still waiting are 16 and 24 W. Jefferson Ave. Whoever signs at either one will show whether a large, linger-all-evening format can work on that block again.

Sarah DePasquale and Beth Burtt keep up with which storefronts change hands across the western suburbs, from Chicago Avenue to Jefferson Avenue. If you'd like to know how downtown changes like these play out on the blocks around them, Sarah DePasquale and the Beth Burtt Group are happy to talk it through. Get in touch.