West Logan Square's Popular Sink|Swim Restaurant To Close For Reconcepting

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jun 26, 2017 10:11PM

The exterior (looking in) of Sink|Swim. Photo via Facebook.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Just a few days after being lauded as one of the "Five Places to Go In Chicago" in an occasionally-mocked New York Times piece, Sink|Swim, a seafood spot on Armitage Avenue owned by the Scofflaw group, is closing to re-concept. The last day of business is July 2.

Sink|Swim never quite worked. Perhaps because food journalists hated having to figure out how to type the vertical line in the name (or maybe because it struggled with quality), it got somewhat mixed review. The Tribune gave it two starts, while the Chicago Reader said that it "may or may not scratch a seafood itch" and that some of the dishes lacked the flavor of ingredients described on the menu.

After the initial crowds disappeared, the restaurant changed everything, morphing from an upscale spot with a complex menu to a clam shack with a lot of crowd-pleasing fried things. Apparently it didn't work, as Eater first reported the restaurant was closing last week.