Copyright Chicago Tribune
The owner of Gene & Georgetti, the iconic Chicago steak house, said she is being pushed out of her space at the Midway Airport concession area after five years to make room for a Bally’s sports bar. Michelle Durpetti, whose grandfather started Gene & Georgetti nearly 85 years ago, said she received notice last week from Midway concessionaire SSP America that it was closing their Gene’s Bistro outpost and abruptly ending a 20-year licensing agreement within 90 days. No explanation was given to Durpetti in the termination email, but she believes the city is looking to leverage its agreement with Bally’s Chicago to generate additional revenue at the airport – at her expense. “They’re basically pulling the rug out from under a local Chicago brand,” Durpetti said. “You lend people your brand equity, which we have spent decades building and protecting in my family, only to be treated like this.” Sources close to the situation say the city would like to allocate the 5,000-square-foot space to a new Bally’s sports bar, perhaps as a prelude to adding slot machines elsewhere in the airport, which is allowed by state gaming law and the casino’s host agreement with Chicago. Meanwhile, the city, Bally’s and SSP are playing it closer to the vest. “The city is engaged with Bally’s around ongoing conversations around the potential for gaming machines at Midway Airport,” a Chicago Department of Aviation spokesperson said in an email Tuesday. At the same time, the city said there are “no plans for gaming or gambling of any kind” at the Gene’s Bistro location. The lack of gaming there, however, does not preclude replacing the existing restaurant with a Bally’s-branded sports bar, which sources say is exactly the plan. Virginia-based SSP America, which operates at about 60 airports in North America, has run the restaurants at Midway since 2017 as part of a $75 million joint venture overhaul that nearly doubled concession space. Since then, SSP has expanded Midway’s offering to 24 restaurants including Chicago favorites such as Billy Goat Tavern, Nuts On Clark, Home Run Inn, Harry Caray’s and, at least for a few more months, Gene’s Bistro. While SSP America would not confirm specific plans for the Gene’s Bistro space, a spokesperson said the existing restaurant is set to close this fall and a new concept will open by summer. “We have fulfilled our contractual obligations to the owner of Gene’s Bistro,” SSP America spokesperson Lana Cramer said in a statement Tuesday. “SSP America operates food and beverage concessions at Midway under the direction of the Chicago Department of Aviation and the Midway Partnership. SSP America has no role in gaming operations or decisions regarding slot machines.” In May 2022, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot selected Rhode Island-based Bally’s to build Chicago’s first casino, besting proposals from finalists Rivers Casino and Hard Rock. Bally’s Chicago, which has been operating a temporary casino at Medinah Temple for two years, is building a $1.7 billion complex that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions at the 30-acre site of the former Chicago Tribune printing plant. The permanent Bally’s Chicago casino is scheduled to open by the fourth quarter of 2026. The 2019 state law that granted a casino license to Chicago included a provision that authorizes the city’s casino developer to install some of its slot machine allotment at the two airports, so long as the total number of gaming positions at all locations does not exceed 4,000. Airport slots are also required to be located in a secured area that is only accessible to people 21 and older. Bally’s proposal for its River West casino calls for 3,400 slot machines and 170 game tables, which leaves room for potentially hundreds of additional slots at O’Hare and Midway. “In terms of slots, we’ve always been very, very forthright that we want to do this,” Bally’s spokesperson Lauren Westerfield said Tuesday. “It would be a great source of revenue, but that’s not our decision. The city has to make that decision, and they have to move that forward.” Westerfield declined to comment on the potential opening of a Bally’s sports bar at Midway. Bally’s operates sportsbooks at a number of its casinos, but has yet to open one at its temporary Chicago facility. It has a standalone sports bar – without an embedded sportsbook – at its Atlantic City casino. While provided for in the city’s host agreement and state legislation, adding airport slot machines, a Bally’s sports bar and potentially even a sportsbook at Midway will require city and Illinois Gaming Board approval. At a news conference Tuesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson discounted Durpetti’s allegation that the city was pushing her out to move Bally’s in at Midway Airport. “I don’t know why this person came to that conclusion, but they’re off in their assessment,” Johnson said. Meanwhile, Durpetti, who received monthly royalty payments from SSP America based on revenues at Gene’s Bistro, said business was good and growing at her Midway outpost, a helpful supplement to the family’s flagship restaurant in River North. While SSP America had the right to cancel its agreement with Gene’s Bistro, Durpetti is hoping to get a sit-down with the concessionaire to discuss alternatives to closing the Midway location, including downsizing or perhaps relocating within the airport. “I would just really like for SSP to be willing to come to the table and have a conversation with us,” Durpetti said. “My dad used to always say, ‘reasonable people come to reasonable solutions.’” Tribune reporter Jake Sheridan contributed. rchannick@chicagotribune.com
