On Saturday, Nov. 28, Santa will ride west on Glenview Road from Our Lady of Perpetual Help to Jackman Park. Within roughly a year, the same few blocks gained an Asian fusion restaurant, a new home for a deli that has been family owned for more than 50 years, a restaurant in the building where the first village board met, a 62-apartment building, an 85-foot mural and several new public parking lots.
Most of the new arrivals came with Village money behind them, and almost all of them trace back to one planning process that started in 2020. That history is the reason this downtown looks different this holiday season, and it also tells you what to expect next.
A plan from 2021, with incentives attached
The current downtown traces back to Glenview Connect. That process began in October 2020, when the consulting firm CallisonRTKL held its first public meeting on downtown development. After ten months of work, the Village adopted the Downtown Glenview Strategic Plan in August 2021. According to Journal & Topics, the plan centers on the stretch of Glenview Road near and east of the Metra tracks.
What set the plan apart was its willingness to pay for results. In a March 2026 report, Journal & Topics described the spring and summer openings as "supported by a series of municipal grants and forgivable loans," and said Village President Mike Jenny and other officials had defended the incentives as a necessary tool for reviving downtown. That support produced the businesses you will pass on the 28th.
What the plan has put on Glenview Road
These are the places the plan has opened on Glenview Road:
- Zenzi Den, 1822 Glenview Road. This Asian fusion restaurant comes from Ballyhoo Hospitality. Its website takes reservations and pickup orders and lists dinner hours of 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, with service until 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Jackman & Co., Glenview Road. Ballyhoo's other downtown restaurant is a more upscale room that opened with significant financial help from the Village. Its name comes from Edwin Jackman, who designed the historic Children's Fountain.
- Foxtail at Glen View House, 1843 Glenview Road. The Glenview Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting on Aug. 14, and Patch reported that the restaurant opened to the public on Aug. 20. This is Foxtail's third location. The owners worked with the Glenview History Center to keep the building's character, and they use the two-word "Glen View" spelling from the building's 1899 branding, when it hosted the first Glenview Village Board meeting.
- Cerca, 1850 Glenview Road. Village trustees, Chamber officials and The Drake Group cut the ribbon on June 17. The building has 62 apartments over 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, a few steps from the downtown Metra station.
- Spiro's Deli, 1880 Glenview Road. The counter-service deli known for its "Bomber" hoagie has moved from 1210 Waukegan Road to the corner of Glenview Road and Lehigh Avenue, the street where Jackman Park sits. A ten-year forgivable loan from the Village helped pay for the move. Spiro's website now says the new location is open.
The parade ends at a link between those last stops. The Children's Fountain that Edwin Jackman designed, now called The Jackman Bear, was moved to Jackman Park and appears on the village seal. A crowd gathered at the park for hot chocolate on the 28th will stand near the fountain that gave Jackman & Co. its name.
Cerca's long wait explains the new parking lots
Of all the plan's projects, Cerca took the longest. The site was once Bess Hardware. The Village bought it in 2017 for $2.225 million, after it had stood vacant for more than ten years, and sold it to The Drake Group in 2020 for $1.81 million. Opponents sued and lost in Cook County Circuit Court and the Illinois Appellate Court, and the Illinois Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal. Ground was not broken until October 2024.
According to Journal & Topics, much of the opposition focused on traffic and parking. In response, the Village bought parking lots and started a valet service for downtown Glenview and The Glen Town Center. The Village's September newsletter describes three more parking additions downtown.
- Glenview Road and River Drive: The former Patio Shops property is now a 60-space public lot, open through the day on weekdays, weekends and holidays.
- Colonial Court: Under a shared parking agreement, 70 more spaces are open to the public on evenings and weekends, which are downtown's busiest times.
- Depot Street: In late summer, the Village began building a new lot on the east side of Depot Street, north of the existing commuter lots. It adds 60 commuter spaces that also serve downtown visitors in the afternoons, evenings and on weekends.
In its September 2026 newsletter, the Village counts more than 850 public parking spaces downtown. It has also published a parking map and video at glenview.il.us/downtown. On parade night, those lots are the difference between a short walk and a lap around the block.
The mural extends the plan beyond restaurants
Public art arrived alongside the restaurants. The Glenview Art League has unveiled "Confluence, Life Along Glenview's West Fork," an 85-by-15-foot mural on the west-facing wall of Shoppers Row at 1746 Glenview Road. Artist Anne Farley Gaines led the project, which shows the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River and the natural areas Glenview has preserved and restored. Patch reported that a Cook County Arts Creative Placemaking grant funded the work and that a Sept. 14 ribbon-cutting included music and a chance to meet the artists.
The Village's newsletter adds that the mural can be viewed from a new outdoor dining area at the neighboring Jimmy John's. That makes a stretch of blank wall into somewhere to stop on the walk between Zenzi Den and Jackman Park.
What is still coming
The incentives are still at work, and the next group of arrivals is already named:
| Project | Location | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| The Bagel | Ground floor of Cerca, 1850 Glenview Road | The Village reports a signed lease for this longtime Chicago-area delicatessen |
| Smoque BBQ | Waukegan Road and Grove Street | Planned first suburban location for the Old Irving Park barbecue restaurant, which opened in 2006 |
| Edie Boutique and Marigold Gift Shop | Colonial Court, across from OLPH | Vacant office space becoming storefronts, with an opening targeted for early next year |
| Public plaza | 1800 block of Glenview Road | Village-purchased property planned for outdoor dining, small events and a walkway to a public lot behind the block |
Each of these follows the same pattern as the openings above. Journal & Topics reported that the Village Board approved a forgivable loan for the Colonial Court storefronts. The loan requires seven-year leases with Edie and Marigold and requires the shops to stay open. What Now Chicago reported that Edie plans to open at 1775 Glenview Road alongside Marigold. In a Record North Shore interview, The Bagel's owner, Marvin Barsky, said he hoped the Glenview location would bring back former customers. For Smoque, the Village says the restaurant would be the barbecue spot's first suburban location, and that it has been recognized by the Food Network, Travel Channel and The New York Times.
Two evenings to see it
Holiday in the Park and Parade, Saturday, Nov. 28, 4 to 6 p.m. The Glenview Chamber of Commerce lists the start as the OLPH parking lot at 1775 Grove Street. Santa leads the parade down Glenview Road to Jackman Park at 1011 Lehigh Avenue, where there will be hayrides, a children's train, carolers, cookies, hot chocolate and popcorn. The Village's event page has the full route. Zenzi Den, Foxtail, Jackman & Co. and Spiro's are all on Glenview Road if you want dinner afterward.
Winter Wine & Art Walk, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 5 to 8 p.m. The Chamber's listing places this evening walk in Downtown Glenview. Registration and details are handled by Friends of Downtown Glenview. It falls on a weeknight, when the Colonial Court shared spaces are open to the public.
Downtown Glenview's growth is the product of years of planning, public investment and patient local businesses, and the Lisa Wolf Team | wolfpartners GROUP follows it closely for neighbors who care how Glenview Road changes. If you are curious how the new restaurants, storefronts and the planned plaza could affect your corner of the village, reach out to us. We are always glad to talk about Glenview over a Spiro's Bomber. Work With Us.
