Downtown Brookfield will have one fewer option for hamburger lovers come 2026.
Dan and Brenna Velcich, the owners of Burger Antics, offering deluxe burgers and American food as well as beer, wine, cocktails and liquor, announced the restaurant will close permanently on Sunday, Dec. 21. It will continue to operate normally at 3740 Grand Blvd. until then, though gift cards must be used by Dec. 14.
The owners made the announcement earlier this month on the restaurant’s Facebook page but have since deleted that post. In the announcement, they described how a potential buyer who was interested in the business instead pursued purchasing the building from their landlord in an attempt to acquire Burger Antics for a lower sum.
Dan Velcich initially responded to an interview request from the Landmark but later declined to speak on the advice of the couple’s attorney. It remains unclear whether Burger Antics, which opened in Brookfield in April 2015 following a 15-month stint in Countryside, could reopen at another location.
Since making the announcement, which garnered sympathy and grief from fans of Burger Antics near and far, the owners have decided to shift the shop’s hours on Fridays starting Oct. 3, opening at 11 a.m. instead of 3 p.m.
On Sept. 11, just days after the announcement was posted online, Dan Velcich started a GoFundMe fundraiser to solicit support for the restaurant’s staff, many of whom have decided to stay on until the closure. According to the fundraiser, all of the donations will go to the staff, “divided based on average hours worked.”
So far, the GoFundMe has raised $985 out of its $7,000 goal.
Ben Meyerson, a resident of Brookfield since 2020, said he patronized Burger Antics “at least once a month” and that it was one of the first restaurants he visited when his family moved to the village. When he learned Burger Antics is closing, “I screamed and I swore,” he told the Landmark.
“It’s one of those places that made this place feel interesting to me when I first moved here,” he said. “It was fun and lively and maybe a little bit more youthfully skewed than some other places in town. It’s going to be missed. I understand the cycle of the way these things work, but it’s still sad.”
The night of the announcement, Meyerson said he visited Burger Antics to have a drink at the bar, where fellow patrons were mourning the community they had found at the restaurant.
“[One customer] was talking about how she’d been going there since they opened in Brookfield, and they got her through so many hard times. Dan and Brenna had catered and cooked burgers in-person at her baby shower, and she was just beside herself, sobbing,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite places in the village here, and I empathize with the challenges of what happens when your job closes, even if you have a lot of lead time before it happens.”
Meyerson worked as a reporter for the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, the Landmark’s sister newspaper, from 2007 through 2012. His father, Charlie Meyerson, is a member of the board of Growing Community Media, the parent nonprofit of both newspapers.
For the next three months until it closes, Burger Antics seems poised to continue serving its iconic offerings, including custom cocktails and a unique “burger of the week,” as it has for the past decade.
