The robber, armed with a gun, had restrained employees in a locker room and took their cellphones, according to police. When the man walked into the locker room, the robber shot him and ran away.



Officers arrested a suspect shortly afterward and recovered a weapon, police said. He is a disgruntled former employee who knew his way around the restaurant, a law enforcement source said.



The wounded man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.



Julio Ayala said he was working security at The James, a hotel on the same block. He rushed outside when he saw lights and sirens, and saw paramedics tending to a man lying on the ground.



"To have a shooting this close ..." Ayala said, trailing off and shaking his head.



Patrons of nearby bars, restaurants and hotels stepped outside, straining to see what happened in the middle of a downtown street that was still busy Sunday night.



Lily and Abe Chapa, both 33, were sitting in the lobby of the AC Hotel by Marriott, just across the street, when the woman banged on the doors and yelled that someone had been shot.



Moments after, they saw a swarm of police cars arrive.



The Houston couple had just finished dinner at another steakhouse a few blocks away.



"We were going to go there for dinner," Lily Chapa said of Lawry's, but the couple changed their mind at the last minute.