MyGrain brewpub shutting down in Joliet Union Station

MyGrain Brewing Company is closing its Joliet brewpub on Saturday.

The city, which owns the MyGrain space in Union Station, will try to find another brewpub operator to take its place.

MyGrain opened in 2017 with plans to create a retail beer brand while establishing a destination restaurant location in downtown Joliet.

MyGrain announced the closing Thursday on its Facebook page.

“We were pioneers who started something new, and we did very well,” MyGrain owner Greg Lesiak said Friday.

But the business had not yet gained its footing when it was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and has not been able to recover, he said.

“It was an unfortunate time for us,” he said. “No one knew COVID was coming. If we opened 10 years ago, it might have been different.”

City officials, encouraged by the prospects of a Joliet brewpub at a time when the microbrew business was booming and Union Station needed a tenant, provided rent breaks to offset the cost involved in remodeling the space for a brewpub.

The arrangement, which also included property tax rebates, allowed MyGrain to operate rent-free.

Joliet Economic Development Director Cesar Suarez said he will review the city lease with Lesiak as both sides make decisions about what will stay in the space.

“We’re very, very proud of what we’ve done for Joliet. And, Joliet has been very, very helpful.”

—  Greg Lesiak, MyGrain owner

Suarez said the city would like to see another brewpub operator take over the location.

“Ideally, we would like to have a turnkey location for the next tenant,” Suarez said. “There’s valuable equipment, and our goal is to keep that intact.”

Lesiak said his immediate plan is to “sit back and take a breather.”

He expressed appreciation for the city’s help for the business, while saying MyGrain added a premier destination downtown.

“We’re very, very proud of what we’ve done for Joliet,” Lesiak said. “And, Joliet has been very, very helpful.”

MyGrain was able to can its beer and put it in some retail locations over the course of the business. But Lesiak said that business disappeared during the pandemic.

“Again, the pandemic changed things,” he said. “Restaurants and stores were very careful about what they would buy.”

MyGrain was the third restaurant or bar to occupy the spot at the front entrance to Union Station, and it has been the longest to stay there.

Lesiak and his former business partner, Vince Turrise, did major upgrades to the restaurant area and converted a former storage area for the train station into the space that was used for the microbrewery.

Union Station, built in 1912, no longer is Joliet’s train station since the new Gateway Center has been built around it. The limestone building has a banquet facility on the top floor, and MyGrain has been the main tenant on the first floor.