with the prayer and then come back or do everything okay okay hello everyone first of all
thank you for coming out we are just so grateful to be here today with the patterson family the
owners of l station chop house this is more than just a ribbon cutting and an opening this is a
new another chapter of a restaurant that they have called l station soul but they also are
a family that cares, and they have L Station cares as well, and they give back into the
community, but we're so grateful to have our mayor here, Mayor Brandon
Johnson. Yes, thank you.
We're going to start off, by the way, my name is Dr. Maite Sings-Stack
Rice. I'm president and CEO of the Chicago Defender Charities. I also produce
the 97-year-old Bud Villiken Parade, so
that's a clap right there. 97 years, okay. I'm
representing okay uh but i want to uh introduce jamone glenn i apologize jamone glenn is uh
their wonderful pastor uh from new life and he'd like to come up and open up yeah so what a beautiful
moment it is to witness this vision we're going to pray together uh and ask god's continued blessing
to rest upon it uh thank you lord for this vision behind elstation chop house thank you for the
courage to start the faith to keep going the unity and the family that made this dream a reality
lift up this family to you their hands their heart their commitment bless them not only their
business but their relationships their health and their continued journey together we pray god that
this not just be a place of work but also a place that they'll continually be proud of a place that
reflects who they are and what they carry we dedicate this business to you today and we pray
that every seat in this establishment
would be filled with joy and laughter, meaningful connection.
Let this place be a place where people gather together,
where conversations happen, where community is built,
and where lives are touched, both big and small.
We ask that the food that's prepared here
continue to be excellent, nourishing, enjoyable, and consistent.
Let it bring people back again and again,
not just for the food, but for the experience.
We speak of continued blessing upon the finances of this business.
Let every bill be paid.
Let there be overflow.
Let there be prosperity, stability, and growth.
Continue to bless the work of their hands and every server as they serve and every field the moment that they come.
As we bless this place today, we declare that this is not just an opening and a continued expansion, but opportunity and legacy.
We speak success, sustainability, and continued health.
in this family, in this job house.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Thank you, Maite. Good afternoon, everyone.
It is truly an exciting moment for the city of Chicago,
for this incredible, brand-new establishment here.
And I want to thank a few of our leaders that are here today.
So first of all, thank you to the aldermen.
Thank you, Brian Hopkins, for being here.
and thank you to State Senator Lakeisha Collins can we give both of them a round
of applause thank you now I will say you know you know having and having had the
opportunity to meet Leroy a couple
a couple of times and to see this vision come to fruition and the full manifestation of this dream
it is an impressive display of love ingenuity competence and care i mean it and then when of
course when i met his people the pattersons is his parents you could see where uh the the nature of
his leadership comes from and so to Tania to the entire
Patterson family I want to congratulate you all for
believing in Chicago it takes an awful lot for
an individual and a family to pour their life their energy
their resources into a dream to one create more
opportunities for the community by hiring people from the community
but also giving people of the city of Chicago
a place where they can come and have great food, great ambiance, and a great time.
You know, it's restaurants like this one that represents the soul of Chicago,
the eclectic nature of this restaurant.
And because I know Chicagoans and even visitors love to come to Chicago
to have a good time, to have great conversations,
it's a good place to come and discuss politics too, by the way.
So you can bring all your family and friends down here, have good food, and then you can discuss, of course, all of the happenings that are going on.
But really, in closing, this is an extension of the vision that I have for this city to build safe and affordable communities.
And one of the ways in which you do that is by investing in people.
We passed a $1.25 billion bond for housing and economic development.
It's the largest housing and economic development in the history of Chicago so that restaurants just like this one cannot just grow, but they can expand.
And so today we offer up incredible congratulations.
I'm looking forward to having many encounters in this place.
I just wish in closing, when I was teaching a few years ago just up the street at Jenner Academy,
I wish this establishment existed because I can tell you after a full week of teaching at Chicago Public Schools,
sometimes you just need a place where you can hang out and enjoy the company of friends and family.
So again, congratulations to the Pattersons and congratulations really to this community.
And I'm looking forward to all that this incredible restaurant, this establishment is going to mean for the people of this community and beyond.
Thank you and God bless you.
The wonderful alderman of this wonderful neighborhood, Brian Hopkins.
Thank you.
And congratulations to the Patterson family on achieving the dream.
You know, I know how hard you worked, and I know you put it all on the line.
And today is the first step in the journey that it pays off.
You will clearly be successful.
There's no doubt in my mind as I look around this room and I see the beautiful transformation.
This is going to be a destination restaurant.
And this is going to be something people talk about.
In fact, they're already talking about it.
I can tell you, I do a lot of ribbon cuttings in Old Town.
This is the first time I've had a ribbon cutting that the mayor has attended in Old Town.
So if there's any doubt about how special you are, that doubt should be erased right now.
Thank you, Mayor, for supporting businesses citywide, but particularly in this neighborhood, this community of Old Town.
And I have to say also, I don't know who in the Patterson family picked out the name, the L Station.
I love the name, and I've already had the tour, and I think this is definitely the cleanest L Station in the history of Chicago.
So, Mayor, they've raised the bottom.
We've got to get the other L Stations as clean and shiny as this one is if we can, because you guys are setting the standard.
I can't wait to try the food.
You know, I'm just really excited you're here.
And on behalf of the Second Ward and the Old Town community in particular, who embraces businesses, we've always done that in Old Town, we take you in, you become part of the family, and that's already happening for you guys.
So welcome to the neighborhood. We wish you continued success.
Thank you.
Yes, I'd like to bring up our commissioner, especially for this 4th and 3rd District, Commissioner Bill Lowry.
Thank you. It's wonderful being here.
And first, let me say to the Pattersons, thank you for allowing me to come here from the south side.
I really appreciate that.
I stole that from you, Mary.
That's normally your line with you on the south side.
But this is just so important for all of us to be here.
It's a celebration of small business.
It's a celebration of our restaurant community.
And it's a celebration of family.
So thank you for allowing me to be here.
I can't wait to get the food.
I also can't wait to get back here with my better half so that I can show off everything that you're doing here.
Alderman, thank you for your support and all the good work you're doing.
Mayor, thank you for everything you're doing each and every day that your feet hit the ground.
You hit it running.
So we appreciate you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Senator, I just wanted to give her a shout-out.
I want to thank everybody for coming.
This is a beautiful, I just want to tell you from my personal experience,
this restaurant is an extension of a family that brings soul in their own house
and then they brought it out to the rest of the world.
And so when you come here, that's what it feels like.
You feel like you're home.
And it's the fact that one particular thing I just want to say,
I'm so impressed that the parents have empowered their young son to run this restaurant.
He is 26, but already has a master's in architecture, but he knows what he's doing.
So I have to give it to you, Leroy. Just come over here so people can see.
Thank you so much.
Speaking of all, I know you're ready to start eating.
Good evening, everybody.
I want to thank you for your family. This is very important to us.
We started the journey of hospitality five years ago.
We have a backup of insurance, we are an insurance agency, but the hospitality thing is a little different.
We started in 2020 when we got the idea of when COVID hit and everyone was asking us, we missed our partners, we missed our crew, we wasn't giving it out for free after that, right?
So we were like, let's go to the restaurant. So we stepped out on faith and started our first location, which is five years old now.
When we started that, it was an amazing hit to the community.
Once the community came, people started to come in and have people from all over the world.
I can go places and tell them all the rest of my whole special life.
They all say, why don't you count them on the train?
When you hear that, it's just amazing to me of what we have done.
From my father and my honest speech that they found from their parents,
parents, from their mothers, and then me just taking that likeness to hospitality and training
the staff, being on the floor, talking to people, and being able to mix and mingle in
different rooms at a younger age. I started at 22, right? I was a young man in this community
in Chicago. At 22, people won't look at you serious. They won't take you serious, right?
So I had to adapt to that and be able to level myself up to another level that my parents
instilled in me that you know you have to be better than your peers right you got to be better
than your peers because people are going to look down upon you in this community right so my goal
was to always help with myself and my parents and whatever i do so i'm not going to hold y'all
long but that's the story of the realization and how we have the realization chop house i'm glad you
Thank you guys for all here.
We've been working for a few years here
and it's a team to run a community.
Not as an owner.
Just as an owner.
To be the owner of the Devastator Chalkhouse
is all about community and family.
We met through business, became friends,
and then friends became family.
So this venture that we went on to open this establishment
was all about community, family,
having so many people to come and enjoy a meal,
elevated experience and amazing hospitality so we look forward to many
many years of you guys coming out supporting us for us being a positive
place for this community for the city of Chicago also so we definitely just say
thank you to everyone that came out today with us
we're starting with some appetizers and they'll be back there
okay so yeah and i haven't had one thing that wasn't good everything is good so we're going
to enjoy and partake
All right, thank you all.
All right.
Yes, we're about to do the ribbon cutting in about what time?
I'll put on my hair.
How are you? Good to see you. Thanks for your help.