Stella’s Diner Closed By City Due To Roach Infestation

LAKEVIEW EAST — Stella’s Diner has been temporarily shut down after city inspectors found an active cockroach infestation and a number of other sanitation and maintenance violations during a late June inspection.

The diner’s closure comes less than a month after The Bagel, the nearby Jewish deli that’s under the same ownership as Stella’s, saw its license suspended after a separate inspection that found a widespread roach infestation, expired food and other serious health code violations.

Stella’s Diner, 3042 N. Broadway, was temporarily shut down by the city on Thursday, according to the Department of Public Health.

On June 26, city inspectors visited Stella’s for a complaint investigation and found an active cockroach infestation and other sanitation and “maintenance deficiencies,” according to the city’s inspection database.

At the diner, city inspectors found an active cockroach problem with two live roaches in the dining room and kitchen, along with more than 50 roaches in an insect trap and a number of carcasses throughout the kitchen.

The city issued a priority foundation citation and ordered management to treat the facility for pests and remove the dead insects. A reinspection on Thursday showed the problems remained, leading to the business being ordered to close, records show.

The restaurant remained closed Monday. Owner Marvin Barsky did not respond to requests for comment.

Barsky has owned Stella’s Diner since January 2021. During his ownership, the restaurant has failed city inspections in 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. In each instance before this year’s closure, inspectors later cleared the restaurant during follow-up inspections after the cited violations were corrected.

Most recently, Stella’s passed both a complaint inspection and a routine canvass inspection in April. Records show inspectors investigated a complaint at the restaurant but found no critical violations.

City inspection records dating back more than a decade show Stella’s has periodically failed routine or complaint inspections, including in 2014, 2017 and 2020, before Barsky purchased the diner. Each of those failures was followed by a passed reinspection or another satisfactory inspection after violations were addressed.

Barsky also owns The Bagel Restaurant and Deli, 3107 N. Broadway, which experienced a more dire roach infestation earlier this year.

During a June 2 complaint investigation, city inspectors suspended The Bagel’s license after documenting a widespread cockroach infestation and other critical food-safety violations.

Inspectors reported seeing more than 50 live roaches in the dining room, kitchen, dishwashing area and women’s restroom, along with dead roaches under cooking and refrigeration equipment.

The inspection also found expired ready-to-eat foods that remained on-site past their discard dates, a handwashing sink that lacked the required hot water and an insecticide stored near food.

Two weeks later, on June 16, investigators returned for a reinspection and found conditions had improved but had not been fully corrected. Inspectors observed three live roaches in food-preparation areas and dead roaches under equipment, resulting in another priority violation.

The Bagel then passed a reinspection on June 18 and was allowed to reopen after inspectors determined the violations had been corrected.

The closures come as Barsky is pursuing an expansion of The Bagel, having announced earlier this year plans to open a new location in suburban Glenview.