Bummer: Lake Street's jazziest sign has gone dark. The Town Talk Diner, which re-opened to great acclaim at a "finer diner" in 2006, abruptly closed Sunday afternoon. A sign on the door reads, "Thank you for the rave reviews and continued loyalty. We made the decision to serve our last meal as of 3 p.m. on January 16th. Once again, thank you for five glorious years, you have been wonderful."

The Theros Restaurant Group (which also owns the St. Clair Broiler and Rudolphs), bought the place in Oct. 2008 from original owner Tor Westgard. Westgard had been sole owner after buying out his partners Tim Niver and Aaron Johnson (co-owners of the Strip Club and the Inn).

The Town Talk has a rich short-order history (the original stainless steel-trimmed diner dates to 1946), one that the Westgard-Niver-Johnson partnership (with a big dose of help from founding chef David Vlach, not to mention a first-rate retro cocktails program) revived, with a bang, when they opened the shuttered landmark in 2006.

The place had been dark for four years when Westgard & Co. took over. Let's hope it's not another four years before that razzmatazz marquee burns bright once again.