Gift Card Deals for Last Minute Shoppers

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Christmas is right around the corner and you haven’t even started your shopping. So, you decide to give gift cards and let your recipient pick out what they want from a store of your choosing.

But not all gift cards are created equal. Many retailers are offering incentives to buy their gift cards. Here is a list of some of the deals available this holiday season.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

• Tin Fish restaurant in Tinley Park has a $25 coupon for anyone who buys a $100 gift card. The coupon is good from January to March on orders of $50 or more.
• Mindy’s in Mokena will give a $20 gift card to anyone who buys $100 worth of gift cards. They have been running this same deal for the past few Christmases.
• Blue Island-based Beggars Pizza with more than 10 locations in the Chicago area will kick in a $5 gift card for every $25 gift card purchased.
• Homewood-based Aurelio’s Pizza with locations across the country also will kick in a $5 gift card for every $25 gift card purchased.
• Massage Envy in Tinley Park and Orland Park will give a $50 gift card to anyone who buys $150 in gift cards.
• Frankfort-based Creamery ice cream parlors will give a voucher good for a free small Blaster for every $20 gift card.
• Culver’s restaurants have a coupon good for a free double deluxe value basket with the purchase of $25 in gift cards.
• TGI Fridays also has a $5 gift card for anyone who buys a $25 gift card.
• IHOP will give you a coupon good for $5 off your next visit with the purchase of a $25 gift card.
• Applebee’s will give you a $10 gift card when you buy a $50 gift card.
• Buffalo Wild Wings will give anyone who buys a $25 gift card a $5 gift card, but it’s only good at that location.
• Denny’s will kick in a $5 gift card with the purchase of a $25 gift card.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill will give you a free burrito, bowl, salad or order of tacos if you show them a receipt for a $25 gift card. Purchase must be made by Christmas Eve.
• Joe’s Crab Shack will give you $5 in Bonus Bucks if you purchase a $25 gift card.
• Little Caesar’s also will kick in a $5 gift card if you buy a $25 gift card.
• Longhorn Steakhouse will give you a coupon for $5 off on two entrees for every $25 gift card.
• Outback Steakhouse will give you a free $20 bonus card for every $100 you spend on gift cards. Bonus cards are good from Jan. 1 to Feb. 11.
• P.F. Chang’s China Bistro will kick in a $10 gift card for the purchase of a $50 gift card.
• Red Robin also has $5 in Bonus Bucks for the purchase of a $25 gift card. Bucks are good from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28.
• Sonic Drive-In also will give a $5 gift card for a $25 gift card purchase.
• Subway will give you a voucher for a free sub with the purchase of a $25 gift card.
• Fuddruckers is another that will throw in a $5 gift card for a $25 gift card purchase.
• AMC Theaters will throw in a $10 concessions gift card with the purchase of $50 in gift cards.
• Famous Dave’s also has a $5 gift card for anyone who buys $25 gift card.
• Steak n Shake will kick in a $5 coupon with the purchase of $20 in gift cards.

Racing Board OKs OTB for Orland Hills

The Illinois Racing Board has approved an off-track betting parlor for Orland Hills.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Playing the ponies will get easier for Southland bettors now that the Illinois Racing Board has approved a license for Arlington Park to open a betting parlor in Orland Hills.

The racing board on Tuesday approved the request for a Trackside OTB at 9201 W. 159th St. in Orland Hills. The board also approved LaRocco Bros. to operate the restaurant side of the business.

Orland Hills officials have been talking about getting an OTB within the village for more than a decade.

“The village certainly appreciates the chance to get this new business,” said Village Administrator John Daly.

“It hopefully will replace some of the lost revenues of the down economy and the bankruptcy of Chrysler and Circuit City,” Daly said.

In the past couple of years, Orland Hills saw a Mancari Chrysler dealership and a Circuit City appliance store (both just a few blocks away from the new OTB) go out of business. Both generated considerable income tax revenue for Orland Hills.

“We replaced Circuit City with a Sports Authority but it’s a sporting goods store and doesn’t sell big ticket items,” Daly said.

The Mancari site is the largest vacancy in the village, Daly said.

Daly said the process now is for Sam LaRocco, who operates a Fat Sam’s with an OTB in Lockport, to apply for the necessary permits and licenses.

“We need to see his plan for the build out and things like that,” Daly said.

Because LaRocco is remodeling an existing building, work should go quickly, Daly said. He said the OTB could be up and running by next summer.

“We plan to keep it similar to Lockport,” LaRocco said. “We’ll have a few more TVs for the horses.”

The Orland Hills location would be slightly smaller than the Lockport Fat Sam’s, he said.

As for the Orland Park Fat Sam’s, which is only a few blocks west of the 159th Street site?

“The Orland Park Fat Sam’s isn’t going anywhere,” LaRocco said. “The new place will have a kitchen and draw an older crowd than Fat Sam’s with its dancing and beer garden.”

LaRocco said he’s thinking of calling the new venture Triple Crown, a horseracing term that refers to the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

The closest OTB to Orland Hills is one operated by Inter-Track Partners – owned by the Hawthorne, Maywood and Balmoral horse tracks – in Mokena. Inter-Track also operates an OTB in Crestwood.

An OTB in Tinley Park left town a couple of years ago when Bud’s sports bar pulled up stakes and relocated to a western suburb.

Potsy's Pizza, Ruby Tuesday Close

Potsy's Pizza in Tinley Park closed last week.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Tinley Park pizza lovers have one less place to choose from with the closing last week of Potsy’s Pizza at 16661 S. 80th Avenue.

Calls to Potsy’s are being forwarded to Salina’s over on 175th Street, which bought the rights to the phone number. Owner Neal Hummitsch said Salina's is now making "cheese nugget pizza" that Potsy's Pizza promoted. It's a kind of pan pizza with garlic butter and mozzarella.

Ruby Tuesday Closes in Orland
Orland Square Mall Christmas shoppers hoping for something to eat or drink at Ruby Tuesday will be disappointed now that the restaurant has closed abruptly.

According to a message on the mall’s Facebook page, Ruby Tuesday closed Dec. 9 without advance notice.

Meredith Hammond, a spokeswoman for Ruby Tuesday, said the restaurant closed Dec. 8 because the franchisee was not renewing the lease. She did not know the franchisee’s name.

In 2009, the franchisee was Peoria-based R.T. Midwest Holdings LLC, which appears to have gone out of business. That same year, Simon Property Group, which owns Orland Square Mall, sued Ruby Tuesday for $69,000 in back rent.

The closest Ruby Tuesday to Orland Park is now in Bourbonnais, according to the company’s website.

Gas Stations Rebranded
The deal for Circle K to acquire the Jewel Express gas stations and convenience stores in the Chicago-area has closed and the stations on 159th Street and Wolf Road in Orland Park are now sporting Shell gas signs and the stores have been rebranded as Circle K.

Synergy Salon Closes
Synergy Hair Design has apparently closed at 11310 Southwest Highway in Orland Park. Its website is still up but the phone number has been disconnected.

Main Street Relocations
Orland Park trustees this month approved more than $400,000 in relocation payments for three businesses related to the upcoming closing of Orland Plaza at 143rd Street and LaGrange Road.

Orland Park Bakery, which is moving in January to the Dania plaza at 14250 S. Ravinia Ave., will receive $196,519. Frontier Construction, which is moving to Willowbrook, will receive $63,345. Lang Lee II, a Chinese restaurant that closed that may not reopen, will receive $219,739.

The biggest loss will be if Lang Lee II doesn’t reopen. My wife loved their chicken wings.

Charter Fitness 5th Annual Toy Drive
Charter Fitness centers in the Southland are accepting new and unwrapped toys through Tuesday that will be distributed through local charities including Toys for Tots, the Salvation Army and Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn.

"Anybody is encouraged to drop off toys at a Charter Fitness near them. There are a lot of children in need in our communities. We want to help them have the best holiday possible," said Dan Collins, Director of Sales.

Marquette Bank Donates Winter Coats
Marquette Bank recently held its Neighborhood Coat and Clothing Drive, an employee-driven effort to collect coats and clothing to give to local organizations.

Throughout September and October, employees donated more than 120 new or gently used coats and other clothing items. Employee volunteers then sorted all of the donated clothing and distributed them to five neighborhood organizations including: Englewood Cares in Chicago, Metropolitan Family Services in Chicago, Southwest PADS in Chicago, Supportive Services Development Corporation in Chicago and Together We Cope in Tinley Park.

Prior to distribution, all of the coats were dry-cleaned free of charge by Norman’s Cleaners.

Orland Square Mall Goes Electric

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Orland Square Mall has installed two 240-volt charging stations for electric cars in the mall’s upper-level parking lot between Macy’s and Carson’s.

350Green from San Diego has been installing charging stations at malls and stores across the country and announced plans earlier this year to install 280 stations in the Chicago area.

Charging stations have also been installed at River Oaks Center in Calumet City and North Ridge Plaza in Joliet. North Ridge, River Oaks and Orland Square are all owned by Simon Property Group.

350Green also has installed a station at a Walgreens in Park Forest.

The Learning Curve Fails

Learning Curve, an educational service, closed recently at 17101 W. 183rd St. in Tinley Park’s Convention Plaza.

Shell Station Changes Hands

A Shell gas station and convenience store at 14301 S. Wolf Road in Orland Park was sold for $1.2 million in late September.

Silver Lake to Add Practice Facility

Silver Lake Country Club, 14700 S. 82nd Ave. in Orland Park, has started construction on a new practice facility expected to open in the spring. The facility will include a public driving range and short-game practice area. The country club features two 18-hole courses and a 9-hole course.

Closed for the Season

Whitey’s Dairy Palace, 16860 S. Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park, has closed for the winter.

Bears deal of the weekend

Enjoy the Bears final home game of the season at Jordan’s Pub, 13500 S. Harlem Ave. in Orland Park, which serves a free halftime buffet during Bears games. The phone number is 708-460-8330. Its website is http://www.jordanspub.com/.

Sears Outlet to Open Friday

Sears Outlet store now open in Tinley Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

The new Sears Outlet store soft opened on Monday and will hold its official opening Friday at 16040 S. Harlem Ave. in Tinley Park.

The 24,000 square foot store is in the former Bally Fitness center. The store will carry its usual line of discontinued, used, scratched and dented merchandise as well as new merchandise.

Hours will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.

The phone number is 708-429-9428 and its website is http://www.searsoutlet.com/

Fudgi Island Cookies Crumbles
The Fudgi Island Cookie Co. closed recently at 17133 S. 88th Avenue in Tinley Park. The sweet shop opened in October 2009 and sold ice cream as well as its unique Fudgi Island cookies. The phone number has been disconnected and its website has been taken down.

In fact, the Chase Commons Retail Center where Fudgi Island was located is completely empty, a rarity even in these tough times.

Marquette Bank Names Manager
Barbara Langnes has recently been named manager of Marquette Bank’s two Orland Park locations, 9612 W. 143rd St. and 9533 W. 143rd St.

Call One Grand Opening
Call One celebrated the opening of its new office at 11524 W. 183rd St. in Orland Park with a ribbon cutting today.

Creative Cakes Knows There's No Business Like Show Business

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Tinley Park’s Creative Cakes bakery is well known locally for its fantastic wedding cakes.

Now the bakery owned by sisters Becky Palermo and Beth Fahey is hoping to broaden that name recognition with an edible version of a Christmas icon: a life-size cake in the shape of the leg lamp from the classic holiday film “A Christmas Story.”

The cake will be part of the Wednesday night opening of “A Christmas Story, the Musical” at the Chicago Theatre. The musical based on the movie and produced by a grown up Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) runs from Dec. 14 to Dec. 30.

“We were contacted by the production company to produce a cake in the shape of the leg lamp,” said Palermo.

When completed, the cake will stand about five feet high, Palermo said.

“The shade is about a foot and a half high,” she said. “It’s made from chiffon cake with raspberry and lemon mousse.

“The leg is 35 inches long and made from modeling chocolate because it has to stand up,” she said.

“Then it will stand on a crate with the word FRAGILE, which is made from red velvet and white cake.” The crate will be decorated with images from the show and movie such as a Red Ryder BB gun, Ralphie’s stepped on glasses, pink bunny slippers and a bar of Lifebuoy soap.

Palermo said 17 employees from the bakery at 16649 Oak Park Ave. are going with her and her sister to Wednesday night’s opening. “We took the tickets as partial payment for the cake,” she said.

“We’ll cut the cake for them,” said Palermo adding the lampshade and crate will be the best tasting parts of the unique creation.

How much for such a custom cake?

“If someone just came in and ordered it, the man hours alone would push the price to $2,000-$3,000,” she said adding the cake is the most extreme stunt cake the sisters have produced.

“We’re doing it to help get our name out there,” she said.

For information on Creative Cakes, call 708-614-9755 or visit them online at http://www.realbuttercream.com/

For tickets to “A Christmas Story, the Musical,” call 1-866-809-3075 or 312-423-6612 or visit http://www.thechicagotheatre.com/tickets/

Illinois Racing Board to Consider Trackside OTB for Orland Hills

An OTB is proposed for the former Hertz dealership at 9201 W. 159th St. in Orland Hills.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

The Illinois Racing Board is expected to approve next week a license for Arlington Park to open an off-track betting parlor at 9201 W. 159th St. in Orland Hills.

“The site totally fits the parameters for an OTB license by the Illinois Racing Board,” said Orland Hills Village Administrator John Daly. “I don’t see how the license couldn’t be approved.”

Orland Hills has been talking about placing an OTB in the village for the past decade.

“We have long embraced the opportunity for an OTB to offset the need to increase property taxes,” said Daly.

If approved, the Trackside OTB would be located in the former Hertz lot on 159th Street. The building would be remodeled into a pub and grill operated by Sam LaRocco, who operates an Arlington Park Trackside OTB inside his Fat Sam’s location in Lockport.

“We plan to keep it similar to Lockport,” LaRocco said. “We’ll have a few more TVs for the horses.”

The Orland Hills location would be slightly smaller than the Lockport Fat Sam’s.

As for the Orland Park Fat Sam’s, which is only a few blocks west of the 159th Street site?

“The Orland Park Fat Sam’s isn’t going anywhere,” LaRocco said. “The new place will have a kitchen and draw an older crowd than Fat Sam’s with its dancing and beer garden.”

LaRocco said he’s thinking of calling the new venture Triple Crown, a horseracing term that refers to the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

LaRocco said once the license is approved he will hit the ground running to get the establishment open.

“I’d like to be open for the Super Bowl, but I don’t think we could get it done that fast,” he said. The Super Bowl will be played the first week of February next year.

The closest OTB to Orland Hills is one operated by Inter-Track Partners – owned by the Hawthorne, Maywood and Balmoral horse tracks – at Stoney Point Grille in Mokena. Inter-Track also operates an OTB in Crestwood.

An OTB in Tinley Park left town a couple of years ago when Bud’s sports bar pulled up stakes and relocated to a western suburb.

The Illinois Racing Board will consider Arlington’s application on Dec. 20. Daly said he would attend the meeting.

Fudgi Island Cookies Crumbles
The Fudgi Island Cookie Co. closed recently at 17133 S. 88th Avenue in Tinley Park. The sweet shop opened in October 2009 and sold ice cream as well as its unique Fudgi Island cookies. The phone number has been disconnected and its website has been taken down.

In fact, the Chase Commons Retail Center where Fudgi Island was located is completely empty, a rarity even in these tough times.

Sears Outlet to Open Friday
The new Sears Outlet store is expected to open at 9 a.m. Friday at 16040 S. Harlem Ave. in Tinley Park. The 24,000 square foot store is in the former Bally Fitness center. The store will carry its usual line of discontinued, used, scratched and dented merchandise as well as new merchandise.
Hours will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.

The phone number is 708-429-9428.

Marquette Bank Names Manager
Barbara Langnes has recently been named manager of Marquette Bank’s two Orland Park locations, 9612 W. 143rd St. and 9533 W. 143rd St.

Tinley Chamber, Mainstreet Association Holiday PartyThe Tinley Park Chamber of Commerce and Oak Park Avenue Mainstreet Association are co-hosting a holiday party on Thursday, Dec. 15, from 6-11 p.m. at VFW Post 2791, 17147 S. Oak Park Ave.

Cost is $30 per person for a five-hour open bar, dinner buffet and entertainment.

RSVP by today to info@tinleychamber.org or 708-532-5700.

Call One Grand OpeningCall One will celebrate the opening of its new office at 11524 W. 183rd St. in Orland Park with a ribbon cutting at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14.

Tinley Park Seeks Vendor for 80th Avenue Train Station Café

Artist's rendering of the new Tinley Park Metra station on 80th Avenue.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Tinley Park is seeking proposals from vendors interested in operating the café that will open in the 80th Avenue Metra train station after construction winds up early next year.

The new station is expected to open in mid-February and will be one of the busiest on Metra’s Rock Island line. Its café will serve an estimated 2,400 daily commuters along with nearby residents and visitors, according to the village.A look at new businesses coming into town and a fond farewell to those that have, for whatever reason, called it quits.

According to the village, the station will feature a clock tower, full kitchen and Internet cafe, a great hall, a covered drop-off area and veranda, interior booth seating, two restrooms and a fireplace.
A second phase of construction, to be completed next summer, will feature reconfigured parking stalls, native landscaping and a pedestrian underpass.

Interested parties can register at the village’s new website http://www.tinleypark.org/ or pick up a copy of the Request for Proposal at Village Hall, 16250 S. Oak Park Ave. For information, call marketing director Donna Framke at 708-444-5045.

The deadline to submit a proposal is 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 30.

Yana’s Café Closed

Not sure when it actually closed its doors, but Yana’s Café recently shut down at 8005 W. 183rd St. in Tinley Park’s Plaza of Tinley Crossings shopping center. The restaurant’s sign is still up at entrances to the plaza but its signage has been taken off of the building, and its phone number has been disconnected and its website has been taken down. The eatery had been operated by new owners since August 2010.

Rand’s Hallmark Closes

The Rand’s Hallmark store closed recently at 16030 S. Harlem Ave. in Tinley Park, though Charter Fitness (formerly Cardinal Fitness) recently opened in the space next door after moving from Oak Park Avenue.

Making Spirits Bright Campaign

Homewood Disposal is conducting its sixth annual Making Spirits Bright campaign food drive for Together We Cope in Tinley Park.

The campaign runs through Dec. 9 and non-perishable food items can be dropped off at the following three locations:

• Homewood Disposal, 1501 W. 175th St., Homewood, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Star Disposal, 30 South St., Park Forest, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• NuWay/Heartland Disposal, 17726 S. Oak Park Ave., Tinley Park, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Odyssey Fun World Plans to Light Up for Christmas

The light show at Ni Miele's house last Christmas.


By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Odyssey Fun World in Tinley Park wants to shed light on Christmas this year. Sorry, make that, shed 100,000 lights on the holiday.

The arcade is putting together a light show on the side of its building that will start at 6 p.m. tonight and last through the first week of January.

“We hope it will be the first Christmas lights display for many years to come,” said Clint Paraday, general manager of the family arcade at Oak Park and Harlem avenues.

The lights will twinkle and dance to music as part of a light show designed by Nic Miele, who has been putting on light shows at his home in Batavia for the past three years.

The arcade will remain open as usual when the light show is on and the show will run even on nights the arcade is closed, Paraday said.

“The show will start out about 15 minutes long,” said Miele. “But it will get longer through the season as we add more songs.”

“The lights will move to Christmas music as well as some top 40,” said Miele. “Each song takes about eight hours to program into the computer.”

Paraday said people will be able to stop and watch the show and listen to music on outdoor speakers or tune in to 87.9 FM and listen to the music on the radio.

“There will be LED bars that will display messages, show the lyrics of songs playing and broadcast videos,” said Miele.

The lights are the same kind that you would put on your house, said Paraday.

“We got them at a nice discount from Lowe’s in Orland Park,” said Paraday.

The lights and music are controlled by computers.

“We came out with a big Halloween display,” said Paraday, referring to Odyssey’s recent Fun Farm and Corn Maize. “We decided to do something big for Christmas. Nobody else around here does anything like this. We hope everyone enjoys it.”

Stacked Opens in Oak Lawn

Papa John's opened Thursday in Frankfort.

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy

Tom Demacopoulos is back in the restaurant business in Oak Lawn with the opening today of Stacked at 5237 W. 95th St. in the former Baja Fresh Mexican Grill.

Demacopoulos owned the Plaza Café in Orland Park from 2005 to earlier this year when he was forced to close because the village plans to tear down the Orland Plaza mall he was in as part of its Main Street Triangle project.

When he shut down the Plaza Café, Demacopoulos said he was probably going to open a new restaurant in Oak Lawn.

Stacked is open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features most of the favorites from the Plaza Café but there are some new dishes including a Red Velvet French Toast with Cream Cheese, which sounds positively decadent.

For information, call Stacked at 708-422-5555.

Papa John’s Opens in Frankfort
Papa John’s Pizza opened today at 21114 S. LaGrange Road in the Frankfort Crossing shopping center in Frankfort. The restaurant is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to midnight for carryout and delivery.

For information, call 815-464-2222 or visit them online at http://www.papajohns.com/.

New Home for My Bike of Tinley
My Bike of Tinley Park, which has been selling and servicing bicycles in Tinley Park since 2006, recently moved into a new home at 17210 S. Oak Park Ave. (formerly Flora Bella).

The shop started at 171st Street and Oak Park Avenue. It later moved to a storefront that was larger but also was farther from downtown Tinley. Most recently, the store moved back to a downtown location.

For hours and information, call 708-444-2453 or visit http://www.mybiketinley.com/.

Homewood Holiday Lights and Market is Friday
Homewood kicks off the holiday season in style Friday with the lighting of the village Christmas tree at 6 p.m. at Irwin Park.

Then the action moves to Downtown Homewood for the Hickory Road Holiday Market from 6-9 p.m.

Among the vendors will be Foundation 153 selling premium-grade Fraser firs from Michigan with easy pick-up and loading assistance. Sales will begin at 3 p.m.

The Homewood Rotary will be selling fresh caramel apples.

Students from Homewood-Flossmoor High School will have cinnamon roasted almonds, popcorn and hand warmers for sale.

The Homewood Parent Music Association will be selling decadent chocolate.

Girl Scouts will be selling hot chocolate and handmade scarves.

The Infant Welfare Society will sell luminaria kits for $6.

South Suburban Family Shelter will sell warm apple cider.

The Downtown Homewood Business Association will be selling mulled wine in a new Holiday Lights souvenir mug, $5 for the mug, $7 for the mug and mulled wine, and $3 for refill.

For information, visit http://www.homesweethomewood.com/.