Kegel’s Inn, the historic German restaurant and bar located at 5901 W. National Ave., will be closing its doors beginning Sunday, Feb. 16 to accommodate an extensive kitchen remodeling project.

During the project, which is expected to take about 10 days, Kegel’s will suspend operations in both the bar and restaurant. The venue will re-open in time for Ash Wednesday dinner service on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m.

The project, prompted by the need for increased efficiency to service the influx of guests particularly during beer garden season, marks a significant step forward for the restaurant, which hasn’t seen significant kitchen modifications since the 1950s.

"The need to provide food service for our very successful outdoor beer garden, in addition to the restaurant, drove us to take the step of modernizing our kitchen to accommodate the increased volume," notes owner Julian Kegel. "With the new, state-of-the-art kitchen equipment and a few minor tweaks to our kitchen processes, we plan to handle the new peak demand, such as our weekly Friday Fish Fry and outside in the Beer Garden."

"We want people to understand that – while this remodeling will significantly increase the efficiency behind the scenes – it will in no way change our traditional German menu or the Gemütlichkeit people know and expect from Kegel’s Inn," Kegel adds.