In the early 1900’s, the City of Evanston constructed the Number 2 Firehouse at 750 Chicago Avenue. The building was designed to house a fire department utilizing the latest fire fighting technology of the day. The Number 2 station was upgraded in the 20’s to house fire trucks and hoses. In fact, contrary to popular belief, the tower at the Firehouse Grill was not used as a bell tower. It was used
to dry the hoses. The higher the tower, the fewer the folds and less wear and tear. Sometime in the 1950’s the Number 2 Firehouse was decommissioned and a more modern facility was constructed. The McKay family purchased the building and turned the Firehouse into a car dealership, McKay Desoto. Sadly, sales of Desotos tumbled by the end of the decade and McKay Desoto was notified by the Chrysler Corporation that there would be no more Desotos for sale by 1962. In the early 60’s the building housed Evanston’s first Datsun Dealership—McKay Datsun (Datsun was the original name of Nissan). By the early 70’s, Datsun sales had outgrown the facility and the company moved across the street and became a Nissan Dealer. The Firehouse, no longer a car dealer, was renovated and turned into The Firehouse Restaurant in the mid 70’s. They were famous for the birthday parties where servers came down the poles to present cakes to party guests. Sadly, the first iteration of a Firehouse themed restaurant did not last very long—Evanston was still “dry” so no
alcohol was sold which made it hard to succeed. The building then became a short lived Orange Julius and then a Mexican Restaurant. The building was restored in 2000 to what is today as the Firehouse Grill. Many of the pictures in the restaurant are copies of historical photos kept by a retired Evanston Firefighter.
