“A part of Glenview for generations,” declares the green and white plaque that greets customers inside Hackney’s on Lake.
Indeed, for 71 years, Hackney’s has been a community staple, synonymous with family gatherings, youth sports banquets, live music nights and St. Patrick’s Day revelry.
“Growing up here on the North Shore, you either ate at Hackney’s or worked at Hackney’s,” said Denny Hebson, grandson of the location’s founder, Jim Masterson.
But on or around Sept. 6, the restaurant will serve its final Hackneyburger and French-fried onion rings at its Lake Street location. The closure “was not an easy decision to make,” acknowledged Hebson, who tends bar and helps in the running of the family-owned establishment.
“This restaurant is giant. It has 700 seats …. It made a lot of sense back [in the 1960s], but now, that’s a lot of seats to fill.”
Hebson cited increased competition, smaller gatherings and changing banquet trends as contributing to the drop in the numbers of diners over the years and precipitating the closure of the establishment. He also noted that the large, aging building requires significant upkeep.
The family will instead focus on running Hackney’s on Harms, also in Glenview, Hebson said. That location is undergoing remodeling and is expected to fully reopen around the time that Hackney’s on Lake closes, he said.
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Hackney on Harms is actually the original Hackney’s, a tavern and roadhouse that opened after the end of Prohibition in the 1930s. Known as Hamm’s, it was operated by Jack and Bebe Hackney.
According to family history, Jim Masterson, the couple’s nephew, took over the establishment in 1939 after his mother, Elizabeth Engels, sold it to him for $1 following the deaths of her sister Bebe and brother-in-law Jack.
Masterson turned the tavern into a restaurant and in 1955 he opened Hackney’s on Lake, where his mother and step-father had owned and operated taverns.
The building gradually grew in size and gained the classical Greek-style columns that grace the front porch.
Additional Hackney’s locations also opened in Wheeling, Lake Zurich and Palos Park, though the three have since closed.
Descendants of Jim and his wife, Kitz, joined the restaurant business and are still involved in the running of the existing Glenview Hackney’s locations today.
“My Dad [Denny Hebson Sr.] was the unofficial mayor of Glenview because of this place,” Hebson said. “He loved having a party and he loved hosting people.”
Hackney’s on Lake was always a community-oriented establishment, Hebson noted.
“It was a really big part of the community and you can tell that because people are coming out of the woodwork today to share their memories and how sad they are [that it is closing]. It’s been really lovely.”
For years, youth athletes from schools like Loyola Academy, Glenbrook South, Maine East, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and others celebrated their seasons with awards banquets at Hackney’s, while countless families gathered to remember loved ones after funeral services or to celebrate milestone birthdays and anniversaries.
Hackney’s also became the “place to be” on St. Patrick’s Day as big bashes, complete with bagpipe and drum bands, drew crowds. This tradition will continue at Hackney’s on Harms, Hebson said.
Many of Hackney’s customers have been dining there for decades, he noted.
As teenagers, Suzanne and Tom Hanley of Wilmette spent date nights at Hackney’s on Lake. Married for the last 52 years, the couple still regularly dine there.
“It’s just been part of our lives,” Suzanne said after a lunch on Aug. 15. “I’m sad. We actually like [Hackney’s on] Harms a lot, but I still come here once a month with my high school friends because it’s convenient for everybody.
“Thank goodness we’ll still be able to get onion rings at Harms,” she added, laughing.
Notable people have also come through the restaurant’s doors.
One favorite story among family members involves the time musician Neil Young and his then-partner, actress and Park Ridge native Carrie Snodgress, attended a funeral lunch for Snodgress’ mother and Young sang in the restaurant’s Shillelagh Room, Hebson said.
“I remember he left his guitar here and the next day he came back to get it and may have had a hamburger,” Hebson added.
Other notable customers who frequented the restaurant included Bill Murray and Chicago children’s television presenter Ray Rayner.
Plans for a celebratory send-off ahead of the September closure are being considered, Hebson said.
“I hope people remember Hackney’s on Lake as a place that was a community for them, where they have great memories because they had such great times,” he said. “This place has hosted so many celebrations, birthdays, sports banquets, funerals. It is really more than a restaurant.”