As Northwestern pulls underclassmen back to campus for Winter Quarter, some Downtown Evanston businesses are noticing an increase in revenue.
Since NU students left campus last spring and the local economy buckled due to COVID-19, many Downtown Evanston stores and restaurants have closed, including student-favorites such as Unicorn Cafe, Panera and Andy’s. Others are struggling to remain open.
But Mahmoud Sabla, co-owner of Habibi In Mediterranean Grill, said the students’ return gives him hope.
“(On Friday) we had a big rush…and it reminded us (of) before the pandemic,” Sabla said.
“We weren’t prepared for it because we had cut people-hours. We had made enough food just to get through the day. But that day…we ran out of rice, we ran out of a lot of things, and that made us happy.”