Dotty's, Stella's gambling cafes popping up across Southland

A Dotty's gambling cafe opened recently on Harlem Avenue in Worth.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy
 

Nine video gaming cafes with friendly names like Stella's Place and Dotty's have opened in the last several weeks in south suburbs from Oak Lawn to Matteson.

These cafes are essentially mini-casinos each with the state limit of five video gaming machines. 

Des Plaines-based Stella’s Place is owned by Laredo Hospitality Ventures, and opened locations last month at Hickory Palos Square mall, 8067 W. 95th St., Hickory Hills, and 8759 S. Ridgeland Avenue, Oak Lawn. A location opened in November at Chicago Ridge Commons. All are open daily from 8 a.m. to  2 a.m.

Dotty's is based in Naperville and in recent weeks has opened at 11015 S. Harlem Ave. in Worth, 6070 W. 159th St. in Oak Forest, 13555 S. Cicero Ave. in Crestwood,  14714 S. Cicero Ave. in Midlothian, and 4740 Lincoln Highway in Matteson. Another location opened last fall at 1066 State St. in Lemont. All are open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Dotty’s also is working on locations in Homer Glen, Alsip, Country Club Hills, Blue Island, Joliet, Dolton, Romeoville and Lyons. 

Dotty’s, which got its start in 1992 in Nevada, has big plans for Illinois.

Dotty's CEO Dan Fischer plans to open at least 150 “warm, cozy and inviting cafes” equipped with video gaming machines as opposed to dark bars that are the usual location for machines in Illinois.

“We cater to women,” he said. “They like to play at Dotty’s because of the atmosphere. It’s nothing like a regular bar. Our locations are small, about 1,500 square feet,” he said. “They will have liquor licenses but our emphasis will be more grandma’s kitchen than tavern.”

Fischer, who hails from Minnesota, last year moved his base of operations to Naperville from Las Vegas.

“I’m a Midwesterner,” he said. “We’re negotiating another 75-80 leases,” he said. “I come in and tell the town fathers, ‘We don’t compete with any businesses in your town. We’re a new niche’.”

Big Lots now Hostess outlet store

The new owner of Hostess Twinkies, Cup Cakes and Ding-Dongs has decided to bring back the popular thrift stores, in a manner of speaking.

Instead of being small outlet stores tucked in strip centers, the new Hostess thrift store will be found in Big Lots.

The Ohio-based chain with about three dozen stores in the Chicago area has started carrying the Hostess snack cake products in a kind of store-within-a-store. 

Just like the popular Hostess stores, Big Lots will get Hostess products that have a couple of weeks of shelf life left in them before expiring. And just like the Hostess stores, the goodies at Big Lots will be deeply discounted, as much as 40 percent off.

The Hostess products will be displayed at the front of the stores and new stock will arrive daily, a Big Lots spokesman said in a release.

Hostess bread products were purchased by a separate company and are not included in this deal with Big Lots.

Al's Beef, Nancy's Pizza back in Oak Lawn

New owners remodeled the Al's Beef and Nancy's Pizza location at 5128 W. 95th St. in Oak Lawn and reopened the combo restaurant a few weeks ago more than a year after the same two restaurants suddenly closed in the same location.

The new owners opened the floor plan and overhauled the menu adding new salads and new french fry variations to go along with the traditional Italian beef and pizza. The restaurant still offers delivery and take out and has added catering to its menu.

Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, they close an hour later on Friday and Saturday and an hour earlier on Sunday.

For information, call 708-581-4936.

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.com.