End of era as Hickory Hills Tastee-Freez closes

Tastee-Freez has closed its last south suburban location in Hickory Hills. (Photo by Bob Bong)

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

The last Tastee-Freez location in the south suburbs and one of the last in the Chicago area closed late last year in Hickory Hills.

The iconic chain, which was founded in Joliet in 1950 and has been featured in hit songs by John Mellancamp and Trisha Yearwood as well as "The Outsiders" novel by S.E. Hinton, shut its doors in November at 9348 S. Roberts Road.

The Hickory Hills location became the last one in the south suburbs after the Tastee-Freez in Palos Heights moved earlier last year and changed its name to Diane's Place.

According to the company's website, there are only two Tastee-Freez locations in Illinois in Spring Valley and Mt. Carmel.  But a reader, Rita Maniotis, of Berwyn, says the brand is alive and well in her town. According to Rita, Tastee-Freez is alive and well in Berwyn on the corner of  26th Street and Clarence Avenue.

Calls  to the company were not returned.

The dessert chain expanded fast and there were almost 1,800 locations in 1957. The chain was acquired in 2003 by a California-based franchising group and the number of locations has since fallen to less than 50.

Like many of the current locations, the Hickory Hills location offered a menu that also included burgers and other fast food items in addition to breakfast and ice cream treats.

New shrimp house opens in Palos

Ongoing construction of LaGrange Road did not deter Tim Keefer and his partners from going ahead with plans to open a shrimp house in Palos Park last year.

Response to the Original Island Shrimp House at 12909 S. LaGrange Road has been "surprisingly strong despite the road work," said Keefer, who is the managing director for the partnership group.

"Word of mouth advertising has been very positive," said Keefer, of Orland Park. "We are seeing a lot of repeat business."

Keefer said serendipity played a hand in choosing the Palos Park location. "I was driving down LaGrange Road. Saw the 'for rent' sign in the Capri location. Dialed the number. Checked out the building and knew it was the perfect place."

Keefer said the restaurant uses a lot of the same recipes as Goose Island Shrimp House and features sauces developed with the help of a five star chef.

Keefer said all of the food is prepared in house from fresh ingredients.

The restaurant features fried shrimp, scallops, oysters, white fish and calamari as well as New England lobster rolls (on weekends only) and great desserts.

"The lobster rolls are a huge item for us," he said. "We sell 200-400 a weekend. It's all lobster in there."

He also said the key lime tort is a big seller.

"We use key lime juice that is flown in from Florida. We sell a couple of hundred a week."

Another popular item is the cornbread.

"We bake it daily and sell 70-125 a day."

Now that the weather is changing, Keefer said the restaurant has added soups.

"We have New England chowder, shrimp bisque and jambalaya."

Keefer said his only goal is for people "to come in and leave saying it was incredible. We try to achieve that through quality. Quality makes a huge difference."

He also prides himself on delivering a "great family feeling and atmosphere."

The restaurant has seating for 65 in oversized and sturdy booths. "We put a lot of extra effort into building sturdy booths. We also put the booths and tables far enough apart so everyone is not in your conversation."

The restaurant is closed Monday but open from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Keefer said franchising is an option for the future.

"We built it as a franchisable business," he said. "We want to make sure we have everything perfect before we do it."

Nothing Bundt Cakes opens in Oak Lawn

Nothing Bundt Cakes, a new bakery that specializes in those funny looking cakes with a hole in the middle, held its grand opening late last year in Oak Lawn.

The store at 10912 S. Cicero Ave. opened in November and is owned by Jeffrey Reynolds and Ryan Devlin.

The Oak Lawn location is the eighth Nothing Bundt Cakes in Illinois and another one is under construction in Chicago's Lincoln Park community. The Las Vegas-based company has more than 100 locations nationwide.

Nothing Bundt Cakes offers a variety of sizes from bite-sized bundtlets to eight-inch tiered cakes. There are nine standard flavors such as red velvet and lemon and a 10th flavor of the month. 

Customers can stop in any time to sample the top four flavors of red velvet, chocolate, chocolate chip, lemon and white chocolate raspberry.

All cakes are made at the bakery.

Hours at Nothing Bundt Cakes are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

For information and ordering, call 708-422-7449 or visit Nothing Bundt Cakes.

The first Nothing Bundt Cakes in the south suburbs opened a year ago in Orland Park. Chicago-area stores  are also located in LaGrange, Mount Prospect, Skokie, Wheaton, Elmhurst, and Naperville.

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 

AMC shuts down 16-screen theater in Country Club Hills

A rental truck sits in front of the closed AMC theater in Country Club Hills a few days after it closed. (Photo by Bob Bong)

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

The AMC movie chain has closed its 16-screen theater at 167th Street and Interstate 57 in Country Club Hills.

"AMC was unable to reach an agreement with the landlord and the theatre’s final day of operations was Sunday, Jan. 10," Ryan Noonan, director of corporate communications for AMC, said in an email. "We thank our guests at AMC Country Club Hills and invite them to continue enjoying their AMC experience a few miles away at AMC Loews Crestwood 18."

Thrift center moves to Lansing

The Harvest Thrift Store has moved from its longtime home in Calumet City to a new location in Lansing and renamed itself the New 2 You Quality Resale Shop in the process.

The thrift store recently moved into its new digs at 18230 S. Torrence Ave. in the former Dekker Electric building.

The thrift store has been operated for the past 15 years by parents, alumni and staff of Lansing Christian School in Lansing and Calvin Christian School in South Holland. All proceeds are divided between the two schools to help parents pay for tuition to the two private schools. Since opening, the store has contributed about $2.8 million to the two schools.

The schools decided to move the store because of the deterioration of the Wentworth Woods shopping center building and surrounding area, the high cost of rent and the reduced amount of customer traffic in the area. 

Store managers said they hope the new location would result in an increase in sales, a renewed enthusiasm for the store, and a more pleasant and inviting environment for shoppers and volunteers.

The store is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Donations are accepted during store hours, or furniture items can be scheduled for pick up. Accepted items include: clothing, furniture, house wares, books, shoes, sporting goods, toys, magazines, seasonal items and tools. The store does not accept infant car seats, mattresses, bowling balls and appliances. 

For information or to volunteer, call 708-889-6369.

Panera adds drive-through

The Panera Bread store at 11069 W. Lincoln Highway in Frankfort recently added a drive-through lane to accommodate motorists.

Hours of operation for the Frankfort location are Sunday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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 

Fajitas opens fourth location in Mokena

ByBob Bong
Southland Savvy

Fajitas Mexican Restaurant, a local chain based in Countryside, opened its fourth location a few weeks ago in a strip mall at 88th Avenue and 191st Street in Mokena.

Owner Walter Narsolis opened his first location in Countryside before branching out and opening Fajitas locations in Tinley Park in 2010 and Frankfort in 2012.

The newest location is at 19118 S. 88th Avenue in the former Chef Paul's steakhouse that closed several years ago.

The restaurants specialize in chicken and steak fajitas but offer a full menu with Mexican dishes such as burritos, tacos and tamales. They all offer beer, wine and margaritas.

Narsolis said the restaurants are family friendly and he has a kids menu for younger guests.

The Mokena location has a dining room and a separate door for takeout orders. Delivery may be offered at a later date.

Narsolis has three video gaming machines at his Tinley and Countryside locations and may add them to the Mokena restaurant at a later date. Video gaming is not allowed in Frankfort.

Hours are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

For information, call the restaurant at 708-336-3750 or visit Fajitas Mokena, 

Studio 63 closes in Summit

Studio 63 held a farewell party on Saturday after losing its lease at its longtime home in Summit.

"We started having landlord issues about a year ago," said co-owner Nick Goutos. "They doubled the lease amount, which we agreed to pay, but then kept changing the terms of the lease. You could say they dealt unfairly with us."

A call to Arrow Real Estate in LaGrange, which is the leasing agent for the property, was not returned.

Goutos said his family had leased the building at 7225 W. 63rd St. in Summit since his father George Goutos built it 50 years ago in a land-lease deal with the property owner.

The building was home for several years to the Prime N Tender steakhouse.

For a short time it was a country bar called Kickers Corral. For the last 17 years, it has been a nightclub called Studio 63.

Goutos owns the business with his brother Jerry Goutos.

"We are still looking to relocate somewhere in Summit with the same name," Goutos said. "If we can find the right venue."

He said the farewell party would run from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Dec. 12. He said some of the more popular DJs who have played music at the club would make a final appearance.

"I expect a sold out crowd," he said. "In excess of 1,000 people."

There will be an auction at the club at 10 a.m. Tuesday, to sell everything in the club. Items for sale include electronics, glassware, furniture and liquor. For information, call 847-854-9913.

Mariano's now hiring for Orland store

Mariano's Fresh Market, which is expected to open early next year at Orland Crossing shopping center at 14225 S. 95th Avenue in Orland Park, has opened a recruiting center for the 400 or so employees the supermarket expects to hire to staff the store.

The center is located at 14432 S. John Humphrey Drive and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Interested applicants can also apply online at Mariano's Orland Park.

The store, which is owned by the Roundy's chain based in Milwaukee, is looking for both full-time and part-time workers for such positions as baker, cake decorator, cashier, catering, floral designer and general staffers.

Kroger plans to buy out Roundy’s grocery stores, including the Mariano’s chain, for $3.60 a share, a total purchase price of about $178 million, the company announced last month.

The company is open to experienced workers as well as entry-level employees.

Sanfratello's closed in Tinley Park

Sanfratello's restaurant at 17823 S. 80th Avenue in Tinley Park has been closed since mid-September because of a sprinkler leak, according to messages on the eatery's Facebook page.

The most recent message from the restaurant to customers was posted Oct. 22: "We are sad to say that we will be closed while we repair water damage from a sprinkler system malfunction. Please continue to check back, as our Facebook page will be updated when we have a re-opening day in sight. We appreciate your loyal patronage and can't wait to serve you all again soon!"

Sanfratello's locations in Highland and Dyer in northwest Indiana remain open for business.

The original Sanfratello's in Glenwood closed in April 2014.

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