He says his business was booming, and had no complaints. So why was he not renewed?
A new lawsuit was recently filed.
The local business owner runs several local restaurants, and he's claiming his Chicago Riverwalk location was shuttered unfairly. He's blaming the city's selection process.
Now, a lawsuit claims the city broke its own rules to give his space to another business.
For three seasons, the successful Beat Kitchen served up food and drinks along the Chicago Riverwalk.
But its owner, Robert Gomez, says he was blindsided when he was told his lease was over. The 2023 season was his last.
"I was crushed. I couldn't believe it," Gomez said.
Now, his new lawsuit claims he was the only business to apply for that same space before getting the boot. Riverwalk vendors apply for specific locations through a city committee which oversees the Riverwalk spaces.
"We were the only applicant. And then after the process was closed, they reached out to someone else," Gomez said.
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The lawsuit against the city claims the city is violated its own rules by letting another new vendor move in, even though that new business didn't apply for that exact spot before the deadline.
His attorney says the city improperly handled that "RFP" or Request For Proposal.
"The process is good. The problem is the city didn't follow the process. They have rules they set out in their RFP. And once those rules are set, they have to follow them, but they didn't," lawyer Bill Klinger said.
"Right, follow the law. And if they followed the law, I would have been in there two year ago," Gomez said. "We did great. We represented the city incredibly well. We brought tax dollars to the city and brought life to that Riverwalk."
The city of Chicago told the I-Team it doesn't comment on pending litigation. But in previous stories, the city has said that the purpose of its bidding process is to ensure Chicagoans benefit from competition, and that the selection process is transparently detailed in a public document.
"Why did they target me and exclude someone who not only did well, but formally applied for that location? I mean, we did everything right," Gomez said.
Gomez says the committee overseeing the Riverwalk never gave him an explanation.
"This committee can do whatever it wants; there is no oversight," Gomez said.
The lawsuit is not alleging the new business in Gomez's former space did anything wrong, but they are named because the lawsuit is asking the city to void the new lease.
That business, which is "Toast of Chicago, featuring Haire's Gulf Shrimp," says they were very surprised to be named, but had no further comment.
They added that they're proud of the experience they're offering their customers.