Texas-based Chuy’s Tex Mex restaurant has abruptly closed its doors in Orland Park.

The restaurant opened in March 2018 at 15610 S. LaGrange Road in the development that was on the former site of a Cold War Army Nike missile base.

The company did not respond to messages, but sent a message on social media regarding the closing.

“After significant consideration, we made the decision to close our Orland Park location. We appreciate all of our customers and their loyalty to this Chuy’s for several years.”

The company had previously closed locations in Warrenville and Schaumburg.

Chuy’s was founded in 1982 in Austin, Texas, serving family recipes from south Texas, New Mexico and Mexican border towns.

The Orland restaurant was the third to open in the Chicago area and was the chain’s 93rd location.

Dot Foods expands in University Park

Dot Foods, the nation’s largest food industry redistributor, and its trucking affiliate Dot Transportation continue to expand its Chicago distribution center located in the University Park Industrial Park, 251 Central Ave.

On June 7, Dot Foods Chicago broke ground on a new 100,000-square-foot warehouse expansion, new parking for Dot Transportation’s trucking operations, and a new on-site family health center for employees.

The company also held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the distribution center’s $1.8 million break room expansion and announced Justin Marchant as the new Chicago general manager.

“Our University Park distribution center plays a central and strategic role for our business,” said George Eversman, Dot Foods president. “The Chicagoland area provides exceptional access to many of our manufacturer partners and customers and offers a great pool of talented people. Geographically, Chicago is in a prime position to support several of our other distribution centers. The decision to invest in the growth of our operations here was an easy one.”

The Chicago distribution center opened in 2017 as volume growth across the Midwest drove Dot’s need for more regional warehouse capacity. Since opening, the facility has increased its workforce from 150 employees to nearly 350, including warehouse employees, truck drivers, and an administrative team.

Dot Foods is adding approximately 100,000 square feet of traditional warehouse space to its existing facility to support volume growth and expand its capacity even further. This includes greatly increased dry, frozen, and refrigerated warehouse storage space.

“The warehouse expansion and our planned growth will require us to grow our team by another 40-50 people in the next year,” said Marchant.

The Chicago facility is also adding a 1,500-square-foot family health center for employees. Dot Foods is converting a section of its existing office space into the family health center.

Marathon Health will operate the health center, which will have exam rooms, a lab, and office space. The health center will offer various health care services, including preventive screenings, condition management, and education for patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, and more. Employees can use the facility as their primary care provider and for annual physicals, wellness screenings, CDL certification, lab work, vaccines, and more. Generic prescriptions will also be available to employees at little or no cost.

The Family Health Center will serve approximately 750 people, which includes Dot Foods employees, their spouses and dependent children who are enrolled in Dot’s medical insurance program.

Village Woods, Victorian Village cited by U.S. News & World Report

Village Woods Retirement & Assisted Living in Crete, and Victorian Village in Homer Glen, were named among Best Independent Living communities in U.S. News & World Report’s recently released list recognizing top senior living organizations.

U.S. News awards the designation of Best Senior Living only to those communities that satisfy U.S. News’ statistical assessment of performance on consumer satisfaction surveys administered. Only 43% of the nearly 4,000 communities that U.S. News evaluated earned a “Best” rating.

Village Woods and Victorian Village are Providence Life Services communities. Providence offers senior living options throughout Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. All Providence communities received top honors from U.S. News & World Report.

Megan Tengerstrom, vice president of Operations at Providence Life Services, said the “recognition is a reflection of the dedication provided by our talented staff members.”

Chicago Southland International Film Festival returns

The Chicago Southland International Film Festival presented by Governors State University will host its second annual Summer Showcase with film screening events at 7 p.m. June 29, July 13, and Aug. 3 in GSU’s F1622 Amphitheater in University Park.

The 2023 Summer Showcase includes three feature length films from local filmmakers including “Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter” directed by Rebecca Halpern and winner of Best of the Fest at the 57th Chicago International Film Festival, “Art & Pep” directed by GSU alumna Mercedes Kane and winner of the 58th Chicago International Film Festival’s Documentary Audience Choice Award, and “Good Guy with a Gun” directed by John Mossman. Each screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and subjects from the films.

“We’re thrilled to bring another group of great films to Chicago’s southland and allow our community to meet these talented filmmakers,” said Joshua E. Young, Co-Founder and Programming & Operations Manager of CSIFF

“Love, Charlie” documents the life and legacy of Chicago chef Charlie Trotter who revolutionized the culinary arts and made Chicago a global culinary destination. Documentary “Art & Pep” shines a light on the history and lifelong social justice advocacy work of the owners of LGBTQA+ Chicago bar Sidetrack, Art Johnston and Pepe Peña. “Good Guy with a Gun,” the only fiction film of the screening series, tells the story of a family affected by Chicago gun violence, journeying to rural Illinois only to find themselves further engulfed by American gun culture.

More information and tickets, go to www.govst.edu/csiff-summer-showcase or call 708-235-2222.

Bob Bong is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at bobbong@hotmail.com.