Mexican chain Guzman y Gomez suddenly closes all restaurants in Lake, McHenry counties and surrounding area

Australia-based Guzman y Gomez is exiting the Chicago area and has permanently closed all of its restaurant locations, including the one located at 5459 Northwest Highway in Crystal Lake. | Photo: Google Street View

Guzman y Gomez, an Australian-based Mexican chain, has suddenly shut down all of its restaurants in Lake and McHenry counties as it exits the Chicago area just six years after entering the market.

Guzman y Gomez announced Friday that all GYG USA restaurants would “cease trading” on May 22.

“After six years of burritos and big dreams in Chicagoland, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our US restaurants,” the company said in a statement.

“To every guest who came through our doors – you chose us, and we never took that for granted,” the statement said.

The restaurant chain first came to the U.S. in 2020 with the opening of a location in Naperville.

It later expanded and opened restaurants in Crystal Lake, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove and other areas in the Chicagoland.

“To our team – thank you. Your passion and your purpose built something special. If you’re ever in Australia, Singapore or Japan, come find us – we’ll have your favs waiting for you,” the company said.

Guzman y Gomez is a Mexican-themed casual fast food restaurant chain based in Australia.

It was started in 2006 in Sydney by Steven Marks, who is from New York.

Marks told the Financial Review on Friday that the company’s U.S. plan was unsuccessful due to major decisions that did not come to fruition.

He cited “snowy Chicago” and focusing on drive-thrus as some of the reasons.

“I could look back and say – was Chicago the right place? A drive-through strategy to initiate our entry into the market – was that the right call? There’s all these little things that didn’t work in our favour that the team and I would probably do differently,” Marks told the newspaper.

“When it snows, everybody thinks delivery should be strong. But when it snows, you can’t drive,” he said.