Burglary Suspects Caught on Camera at James Beard Award-Winning Lula Cafe

Just weeks after winning the coveted James Beard Foundation award, a Northwest Side restaurant was targeted by burglars who made off with the business’s safe, surveillance video shows.

Lula Café, located at 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd., was one of four businesses attacked by thieves between 3:08 a.m. and 4:53 a.m. on Sunday, June 30.

Chicago police issued a community alert about the burglaries Sunday, saying the suspects used a tire iron to break down the door of the establishment and gain entry before stealing cash, safes and electronics. Surveillance footage showed three suspects wearing masks and hoodies leaving the establishment. One of the suspects left with the restaurant’s safe, authorities said.

The group left in a black four-door Infiniti sedan with unknown registration, police said.

The times and locations of the other burglaries are listed below:

03:08 – 2400 West Division Street
4:47 AM – 3100 block of West Armitage Avenue
04:53 – 2600 West Division Street

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Area Five Detective Bureau at 312-746-7394.

Lula Café won the “Best Hospitality” award in mid-June at the 2024 James Beard Foundation Awards, widely considered the Oscars of the culinary industry. Lula Café also appeared in the 2023 Michelin Guide to Chicago as a “Bib Gourmand.”

The New American restaurant, according to its website, offers “inventive, market-driven, mostly organic cuisine in a casual, funky space, and hosts a particularly popular brunch.”