The large space formerly occupied by G.P. Franklin’s, at 4767 N Lincoln Ave, in Lincoln Square, finally has been filled. Trattoria Trullo, a southern Italian restaurant that closed shop in Evanston recently, is scheduled to open in the Square in June.
G.P. Franklin’s was a bit of a disaster – a restaurant, soda fountain, old-timey general store sort of place that was hard to decipher. The owners appeared to have spent a fortune on the build-out, but it’s unclear how much renovating Trullo chef-owner Giovanni DeNigris has done on his new space.
The bigger disaster for the neighborhood was the length of time that this prime Lincoln Square real estate sat vacant at a time when the rest of the strip is booming. A little bird told us — and we can’t really vouch for the accuracy of little birds — that Ald Gene Schulter’s (47th) insistence that this space be devoted partially, if not completely, to retail resulted in a number of interested restaurants being turned away before he relented.