Sophie Bolich

Bay View’s Palomino Restaurant Closes

The restaurant and bar closed Saturday, but will be open for special events.

By - Jul 11th, 2022 07:30 pm
Palomino. Photo taken July 9, 2022 by Sophie Bolich

Palomino. Photo taken July 9, 2022 by Sophie Bolich

Palomino‘s last day of service was Saturday.

As of July 10, the American restaurant and whiskey bar in Bay View is temporarily closed for regular service due to “staffing shortages brought about by the pandemic,” according to a notice on the bar’s website.

Owner Valeri Lucks operates Palomino and its sister restaurants, Honeypie, SmallPie and Comet Cafe under the restaurant group PIE Inc. with business partner Derek Petersen. Lucks also runs the wholesale bakery HoneyPie Bakeshop and an online shop called PieGram.

The pair’s most recent venture was taking over ownership of Comet Cafe, which recently reopened in the Lower East Side neighborhood.

Employees at Palomino were notified via an in-person meeting last week that the location would close. Most will be relocated to fill positions at Honeypie and Comet Cafe. Employees at the group’s other restaurants received an email.

“Comet and Honeypie are both so very close to being recovered from the damages of the pandemic,” it said, “Moving our Palomino team over to Comet, Honeypie and SmallPie will help us to take the final steps to full recovery.”

With extra staff on hand, Comet will likely extend its hours to evening service, a goal that leadership has been pursuing since its reopening in June.

Originally opened in 2002, Palomino served a southern-inspired menu alongside its extensive whiskey selection and was especially well-known for its fried chicken sandwich.

The bar will open for private events, dinner parties and whiskey socials. The space will be available for private event rentals in the future, according to the notice.

“We hope to reopen Palomino next year for our normal food and bar service,” the notice said.

Honeypie Bakeshop and PIE Inc administrative services, which previously shared the kitchen with Palomino, will continue to operate out of the 3,708-square-foot building, 2491 S. Superior St.

Lucks did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

To inquire about a private event at Palomino, contact mail@pieincorporated.com

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2 thoughts on “Bay View’s Palomino Restaurant Closes”

  1. Michael Clausing says:

    One of my favorites. Hopefully they can reopen next year.

  2. Ryan Cotic says:

    Makes you realize how difficult it is to run a small business

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