Pita Inn builds first Chicago restaurant on former Sears Auto Center site in Portage Park

Pita Inn, the family-owned Mediterranean restaurant that started in Skokie in 1982, is building a sixth restaurant, and the first inside Chicago, at 4045 N. Cicero Ave. in Portage Park on the former Sears Auto Center site at Six Corners, What Now Chicago reported on October 19. The restaurant will open this winter, and no exact date has been announced, according to that report.

What Now and earlier coverage placed the restaurant at 4035 N. Cicero Ave., the address of the two-story masonry auto center building that stood on the lot. The city issued a permit on December 11, 2024, to wreck and remove that building, and every city permit that names Pita Inn uses 4045 N. Cicero Ave., according to the City of Chicago’s building permit records.

What the city permits show

Pita Inn will occupy a newly built one-story restaurant building on the lot. Novak Construction is the general contractor on the shell of that building, according to city records, and Chicago YIMBY reported in November 2025 that a pending permit for the same address already named Pita Inn as the restaurant tenant.

The restaurant’s permit history in the city’s data portal runs in this order:

• The city issued a $1.2 million permit for the shell and core of a new one-story restaurant on November 7, 2025.
• The city issued a $1.55 million permit for the initial tenant build-out on April 15, 2026, with Pita Inn listed as the owner-occupant.
• The city issued a $20,000 permit for exterior facade alterations on August 26, 2026.
• The city issued permits for three internally lit sign cabinets on the north, east and west walls on September 29, 2026.

The build-out permit was still in the inspection stage on October 29, according to city records. On the same date, the city’s list of active business licenses showed no license for Pita Inn at the address. Pita Inn’s own website still lists five locations and has not posted hours or a phone number for the Chicago restaurant.

Where the restaurant sits at Six Corners

Six Corners is the shopping district where Irving Park Road, Cicero Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue meet. Chicago YIMBY put the Pita Inn building one block from that intersection. The lot is on the east side of Cicero and runs back toward Kilpatrick Avenue, according to city sign permits for the Burlington building on the same parcel, and the city’s community area boundary map places the site in Portage Park, not Irving Park. What Now’s headline described the location as Old Irving Park, but the Irving Park community area begins a few blocks east, according to the same city map.

City permit records and the city’s ward map in effect since 2023 place the site in the 45th Ward, and the ward’s alderperson is James Gardiner, according to the city’s ward office listing.

The old auto center lot is being split into three standalone buildings, Nadig Newspapers reported in February 2025. Pita Inn and a Wells Fargo branch would sit along Cicero, and a Burlington store would sit farther east toward Kilpatrick Avenue, according to the paper. Gardiner told Nadig that the project needed no zoning change and that completion was estimated for fall or winter 2026. “This will be the first Pita Inn in Chicago,” Gardiner said. The plans include an outdoor dining area at the restaurant and an outdoor walkway between the restaurant and the bank, Nadig reported.

The Sears Auto Center had been vacant for several years when construction fencing went up around the building in late 2024, Nadig Newspapers reported that December. Chicago YIMBY later reported that the building came down early in 2025.

The rest of the old auto center lot

City permit records show the two neighboring buildings on the lot at these stages:

• A $10.9 million permit issued October 20, 2025, covers a new one-story retail building and surface parking lot at 4059 N. Cicero, and the city has issued a certificate of occupancy for that building.
• A $1.1 million permit issued April 21, 2026, covers the Burlington store’s interior build-out at 4059 N. Cicero, and permits for security and electrical work there followed in October.
• A $2.1 million permit issued July 22, 2026, covers a new one-story Wells Fargo bank at 4051 N. Cicero, between the restaurant and the Burlington building.
• A stormwater approval issued October 14, 2025, covers 3.11 acres across the redevelopment.

The lot sits next to the former Sears store, which Novak converted into loft apartments with a Target on the ground floor, according to Nadig Newspapers. That Target at 4728 W. Irving Park Rd. opened on March 17, 2024, in about 44,000 square feet, NBC Chicago reported. Novak lists Six Corners among the featured projects on the company’s website.

The family behind Pita Inn

Falah Tabahi came to the United States in 1972 at age 20 and worked at a Mediterranean restaurant before he and his wife, Asma, opened the first Pita Inn in Skokie in 1982, according to the restaurant’s website. Falah Tabahi’s children, Hazem and Eyad Tabahi, now manage the business, according to What Now.

Hazem Tabahi was the manager when the Naperville restaurant opened at 1835 Abriter Court in February 2018, the Daily Herald reported. That restaurant has 7,200 square feet and seats 230, and the paper reported that his father trained the chefs.

Pita Inn’s website gives this timeline for the business:

• The first Pita Inn opened in Skokie in 1982.
• The Wheeling restaurant opened in 1992.
• The Pita Inn Market & Bakery opened in Skokie in 1997 to bake pita for the restaurants.
• The Glenview restaurant opened in 2003, and the Mundelein restaurant followed in 2013.
• The Skokie restaurant moved into a new building down the block in 2015.
• The Naperville restaurant, built from the ground up, opened in 2018.

What Pita Inn serves

Pita Inn has not released a menu or prices for the Chicago restaurant. At the existing locations, the menu has falafel, kabobs and shawarma made with marinated chicken, beef and lamb, along with hummus, baba ghannouj, pita baked in the family’s bakery, baklava, and vegetarian and vegan dishes, according to the restaurant’s website. The website also says the restaurants cater to diners looking for halal food, and the family sells Pita Inn hummus and hot sauce in local grocery stores.

What Now listed salads, soups, kabob sandwiches and entrees on the menu, and described hummus topped with tahini as a popular order. Drinks include hot mint tea, coffee and fresh-squeezed lemonade, according to the same report.

Getting there

Chicago YIMBY listed these transit connections for the site in a November 2025 report:

• CTA bus routes 54, 54A, 56 and 80 stop near the restaurant.
• The Mayfair station on Metra’s Milwaukee District North Line is a little less than half a mile north, near Cicero and Montrose avenues.
• Eastbound Route 80 buses connect to the Irving Park stations on the CTA Blue Line and Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest Line, each about a mile away.

The city permit for the neighboring retail building covers an at-grade parking lot, and Gardiner told Nadig Newspapers the development would include plenty of parking.

Hours at the Skokie original

The original Pita Inn at 4710 Dempster St. in Skokie is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, according to the restaurant’s website, and the phone number is (847) 677-0211. The website says the Skokie restaurant remains the family’s most popular location, and the restaurant appears in the guide to the best restaurants in Skokie.

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