Last call at Lucky Jackson’s

The cozy lounge that could proved to be too cozy.

Lucky Jackson’s, a cocktail bar tucked inside the side room of Wilmette’s Valley Lodge Tavern, 1141 Central Ave., will close at the end of September, with proprietor Chris Karabas saying that the space proved insufficient.

“I really felt that I landed on the right concept, but the space was just too small,” he said. “Through nobody’s fault — it’s just the reality of the situation.”

Karabas opened Lucky Jackson’s — named after Elvis Presley’s character in “Viva Las Vegas” as well as Karabas’ former band — at the start of 2026 in the 400-square-foot Valley Lodge space that previously housed FoodHaul, a prepared-meal concept.

The concept featured unique cocktails, canned and bottled beer, and a shifting menu; though, items could also be ordered off Valley Lodge’s bar menu.

Karabas hoped that he could fine tune Lucky Jackson’s identiy, finding the ideal food pairing to go with his craft cocktails, before transitioning to a larger storefront in town.

But that plan ran into roadblocks, like the challenge of sharing a kitchen with a full-service restaurant and the lack of available local storefronts.

“The space proved to be too small and it cornered me into being just a cocktail bar, which is never what I intended to be,” Karabas said. “It’s kind of simple. It took me about six, seven months to figure that out, but that’s what trial and error does; it takes time.

He added, “Doing the partnership with Valley (Lodge) was a way for me to grease the wheels a little bit and get started, banking that some other space would open up and I could more easily move into a bigger space having already built a following.”

Adding to the equation, Karabas’ responsibilities at Lucky Jackson’s limited his weekend availability to get on stage. A celebrated musician, Karabas and his band perform across Chicagoland and beyond. He said he was missing his weekend shows and if he ever does open a concept in a traditional commercial space, it will include a stage.

In its final month, Karabas and Lucky Jackson’s will continue to welcome patrons, and Karabas is grateful for the support the pint-sized bar received.

“It was amazing the support that we got,” he said. “From friends and family, it’s kind of expected but appreciated beyond words. But then the people I’ve never met that I got to be friends with, from Evanston, Highland Park, new people to Wilmette, really embraced this neighborhood type bar, which is really a dying breed.”

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