USA, IL: Tonality Brewing Co. & Scratch Kitchen to shut down this month

A little more than a year after its much-celebrated opening, Mundelein’s Tonality Brewing Co. & Scratch Kitchen will shut down this month, Daily Herald reported on April 1.

Tonality, which operates in a renovated fire station at 169 N. Seymour Ave., will serve its last meals April 13 at the latest, owner Zach Gelfand said Monday night on the business’ Facebook page. He tried to assure fans the announcement wasn’t an April Fools’ Day prank.

“We are gutted,” he wrote. “We laid off 22 people yesterday, but we will do everything in our power to get people hired as soon as possible.”

Gelfand gave no explanation for the pending closure.

Village Administrator Eric Guenther said he was “a bit surprised” by the announcement.

“Disappointed for sure,” Guenther said. “I certainly was cheering for them.”

Mundelein sold the two-story, brick building to Gelfand and his company in 2022. Built in the 1940s as a fire station, it later served as a public works maintenance garage before being vacated in 2020.

Mundelein purchased a former car wash just south of the site and quickly sold it to Tonality so it could create a parking lot there, too.

To encourage redevelopment of the former municipal building, the village board voted to give Gelfand and his partners $180,000 in grants and tax rebates.

The development deal called for the village to give Tonality $50,000 from the local Business Incentive Grant program; a 50% sales-tax rebate of up to $65,000 over five years, once the business began operating; and up to $65,000 from a village tax increment financing fund over five years, once the business began operating.

The business’ opening repeatedly was delayed. It eventually opened to customers in November 2023 after about $3.4 million in renovations.

Guenther said officials have reached out to the village’s attorney to clarify its options regarding the financial incentives.

Gelfand said the company is exploring selling the business and the building, which it bought from the village.

“Until then, come on by to say goodbye, and please tip the staff generously if you can,” he wrote. “This is going to be a rough time for everyone involved.”

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