(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A popular Polish restaurant in the south suburbs is about to close its doors after 50 years in business.
The Warsaw Inn first opened in 1972 in Calumet Park. Sixty-nine-year-old owner Angie Golom said that building burned down in 1979 and new locations opened in 1980 in Lynwood and Chicago Ridge; the latter site eventually was sold.
“I work six days a week, so my whole life has been dedicated to the business,” she said.
Golom credits her restaurant’s success to the quality and freshness of the food.
“We still make our own pierogis. We pinch one at a time.”
In fact, she adds, her staff makes everything that’s on the buffet: “We make our own stuffed cabbage, our own potato pancakes, blintzes, our own sausage. All our pastries are made here on the premises fresh every day.”
Her “remarkable” waitstaff includes a worker who has been with the restaurant for 36 years, she said.
But it’s coming to an end. Since making the closing announcement on Facebook this week, hundreds of patrons have commented, wishing Golom well in retirement and saying how much they have loved Warsaw Inn.
“We’ve had some people that commented that four generations of their family had dined at our restaurant,” she said.
Golom had said Feb. 27 is the Warsaw Inn’s last day, but now she says she’s going to be a bit flexible on that.
“I just didn’t expect this humongous outpouring of support and people wanting to come one more time,” she said.
She has three sons but none of them wanted to continue the business. So, she’s putting the place up for sale, she said.
Golom said she wants to spend a lot of her retirement with her five grandchildren, who live in Colorado and Minnesota.
“My children are elated that I’m finally, finally, after all these years, retiring,” she said.
Angie Golom says she’s been married for 49 years but that her husband was in a different profession and retired about five years ago.
She says she made it through the pandemic successfully. Golom says she closed for the first six weeks when everything was shut down, then re-opened for carry-out and eventually in-person dining.
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