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Palookaville Chili (3900 Lorain Ave.) in Ohio City is no more, confirms owner and artist Ian P.E.. The funky and fun-loving chili café closed for the summer back in June, and P.E. had every intention of reopening it on September 1.

But then he changed his mind.

“It was doing okay, but it was too much work for me,” he says. “It gets to be a bit of a drag having to be there every day. I prefer the creative side of things.”

Talks are currently in place to sell the business — or at least the equipment and lease — to another operator.

This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2013.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.