Grub Street Chicago Shuts Down

By Anthony Todd in Food on May 21, 2013 6:20PM

Yet another Chicago food publication is reportedly shutting down. We first heard about this on Twitter third- or fourth-hand and didn't quite believe it, but we now have confirmation that Grub Street Chicago (and all other Grub Street outlets except for New York) are being shut down as of tonight.

Grub Street Chicago has been one of the mainstays of the Chicago food scene since back when it was Menupages. First under Helen Rosner (now at Saveur), then under Nick Kindelsperger (now at Serious Eats), and it has been one of our daily go-to spots for food news and analysis. Mike Gebert, the current editor, has only made it better — but apparently business got in the way.

Grub Street released a statement about the closings, saying they aren't really shutting down. Except they are.

This doesn’t mean that Grub Street won’t be covering these cities anymore: We’ll continue to write about openings and other news from there and, indeed, the rest of the country. That's because Grub Street is expanding its scope. Over the past year, we’ve turned our attention more and more often toward food and drink stories of national interest, and the time is right to make that approach official.

Gebert tweeted confirmation earlier today.

OK, yes it is true. Grub Street Chicago is no more. I am a free agent. Posting Nagrant's picture shortly.

— Michael Gebert (@skyfullofbacon) May 21, 2013

Our favorite response?

I will fund a Kickstarter for @skyfullofbacon and @michaelnagrant to go on a road trip, eat stuff, and blog about it.

— Josh Steinfeld (@jesteinf) May 21, 2013

Both were referring to recently let-go Sun-Times food critic Michael Nagrant. As of tonight, Grub Street Chicago will redirect to Grub Street National.