A new Mexican seafood restaurant is set to open later this month inside the Logan Square storefront that housed The Chicago Diner for 13 years, bringing whole grilled red snapper, purple-corn tortillas and scallops in poblano sauce to Milwaukee Avenue. Siete Azul, led by 24-year-old first-generation American Luis Zendejas, is taking over 2333 N. Milwaukee Ave., the building the vegan diner vacated in December 2025.
Zendejas, who lives in Logan Square, left a budding finance career in 2024 to chase a restaurant of his own in the city, according to Block Club Chicago. He spent two years scouting locations before signing the lease on the Milwaukee Avenue space in May. “I like being in a position where your actions have a lot of weight,” Zendejas told the outlet, adding, “And everyone says if you're going to try something, try when you're young, so what a better time than now?”
Underlying the opening is a bit of regulatory paperwork: corporate entity Zitacuaro, Inc. filed a liquor license application with the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection on September 23, seeking a Consumption On Premises license for the address, according to City of Chicago records. Per Zendejas, that approval is expected in November, meaning Siete Azul will operate BYOB when it opens later this month until the license clears.
A Family Recipe Rooted in Michoacán
Siete Azul's menu draws on the coastal cuisine of Michoacán, Mexico, where Zendejas's parents are from. His parents invested in the restaurant and helped remodel the space and develop its recipes, the station's report notes. The name itself nods to that heritage: “siete” references siete mares, a traditional Mexican seafood stew popular in coastal regions, while “azul” evokes the blue of Mexican oceans and seas.
“We want to bring a new food item with the same familiarity and love that a lot of businesses here have,” Zendejas said. Bernardo Zendejas, his father, said he's emotional about the opening given the work, money and time it took, adding, “We are excited to open so people can get to know us and the food.”
The dishes lean into that coastal identity: tacos al pastor made with purple masa tortillas, pork, onions, pineapple and cilantro; shrimp empanadas with purple masa, Chihuahua cheese and avocado; and huachinango zarandeado, a slowly grilled whole red snapper finished in guajillo tomato sauce. There's also ceviche de camarón with shrimp, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, cilantro and lime, pan-seared langostinos with onions and salsa nayarit, and butter-lime sautéed scallops in poblano sauce. The kitchen uses purple corn flour throughout its tortillas and empanadas along with a range of distinct sauces and toppings. Siete Azul has assembled chefs with experience at well-known Mexican restaurants around Chicago and a bar manager from Mexico City with decades in the industry.
Sixteen Years of Experience From the Suburbs
The Zendejas family isn't new to the restaurant business. They've run Las Islas Marias, a Mexican seafood restaurant on Dundee Road in Wheeling, for 16 years; village records show the suburban spot originally opened in late 2009. Luis co-owns that restaurant with his parents and has handled hiring, marketing, menu creation and sales there, even stepping in to help run it in 2023 after his father sustained a minor injury.
That track record is now informing a bet on the city. Commercial listing data from Strauss Realty shows the Milwaukee Avenue building was constructed in 1917 and offers 2,744 square feet of commercial space, including a full basement with walk-in coolers and storage. The property sits steps from the CTA California Blue Line station, which logs more than 1 million riders annually, and the surrounding three-mile trade area counts 472,442 residents across 201,393 households with an average household income of $127,654.
The block itself is already a dining and nightlife destination, with Siete Azul landing near established neighbors including Daisies, Cafe Mustache, Cole's Bar, Slippery Slope and Emporium Arcade Bar, per Strauss Realty. Siete Azul has also posted job openings for line cooks, bartenders, hosts and bussers ahead of opening, with line cook pay advertised at $20 to $22 an hour, according to listings on Indeed.
Replacing a Vegan Pioneer Amid a Rough Stretch for Plant-Based Dining
The Chicago Diner's Logan Square outpost closed in December 2025 as part of a brutal eight-day stretch that fall and winter in which four Chicago plant-based eateries announced shutdowns, including Kitchen 17, Native Foods and Chicago Raw, according to CBS News. Hoodline reported on a related closure tied to that same wave of vegan restaurant shutdowns across the city. The Chicago Diner had opened its original Lakeview flagship on Halsted Street in 1983 before expanding into the Logan Square location in 2012, where it operated for 13 years, according to a 2016 profile from Produce Business.
The turnover carries some symbolic weight for the neighborhood. Logan Square was historically a predominant Latino enclave before becoming one of Chicago's most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, per a Metropolitan Planning Council study cited by WTTW. A Mexican family-owned restaurant moving into a storefront on Milwaukee Avenue lands in a corridor where Latino family businesses were once a defining presence.
Siete Azul plans to open later this month, with hours set for 4 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4 to 10 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays. The restaurant will post its exact opening date on social media.
