TV Restaurants

What Happened to R Place Restaurant (I-64, U.S. 35 North to I-80)?

Food Paradise, Season 4 Morris, Illinois Closed December 2024

Current status

Closed

As of October 2026, R Place Restaurant (I-64, U.S. 35 North to I-80) has closed — confirmed via shawlocal.com, December 10, 2024.

What the source shows: The Morris Herald-News reported in December 2024 that R-Place was closing that week and would become a Black Bear Diner, and reported in July 2025 that the Black Bear Diner franchise, the chain's first in Illinois, had opened in the former R-Place space. How we decide a status →

What happened after Food Paradise?

Food Paradise's “Truck Stop Paradise” (aired 2013) featured R Place, the sit-down diner at the TA travel center off Interstate 80 and Route 47 in Morris, Illinois, spotlighting its 24-hour truck-stop menu and a four-pound cheeseburger challenge that earned finishers a spot on the restaurant's wall of fame. Larry and Kathy Romines opened the eatery as the 100-seat Chuck Wagon in 1967, later expanding it into the 250-seat R-Place Family Eatery, decorated with hanging wagon wheels and antique toy displays. The Morris Herald-News reported on December 10, 2024 that R-Place had closed. A Yelp listing for R Place Family Eatery, updated in May 2026, still marks the business permanently closed, and the Morris Herald-News reported in July 2025 that a Black Bear Diner franchise, part of a California-based chain, had opened in the former R-Place space in June 2025.

The episode Food Paradise, Season 4

Episode 22
Aired
Title: Truck Stop Paradise · What was featured: 24-hour truck-stop diner and its four-pound cheeseburger challenge
How Food Paradise restaurants have fared: 27% closed →

Also in Season 4 Food Paradise

Season 4: 134 of 199 still open · 12 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 26 Season 4 episodes →

Nearest open restaurants By distance from 21 Romines Dr

All 220 TV restaurants in Illinois →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 3 references

  1. shawlocal.com https://www.shawlocal.com/morris-herald-news/2024/12/10/r-place-in-morris-to-close/
  2. Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/r-place-family-eatery-morris
  3. rochesternow.net https://rochesternow.net/ixp/723/p/reopened-restaurant-morris/
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Record fp-0358 · checked by Cal Marchetti.