Plush Horse Now Open in Tinley

The Plush Horse in Tinley Park is now open.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

The second location for the Plush Horse ice cream parlor opened a couple of weeks ago at 7903 W. 171st St. in the Tinley Downs Plaza in Tinley Park.

“Business has been pretty good,” said Mary Ellen Rydberg, whose husband Steve is the son of Ann Rydberg, who owns the original Plush Horse in Palos Park.

“We have cupcakes and a sweet section in front of the store, with carmel corn and gummi candy,” said Rydberg. “Our ice cream cupcakes, pies and cakes have been pretty popular, so far.”

Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, but that may change. “We’ll probably extend our hours to 10 p.m. for the summer,” she said.

For information, call 708-444-1800.

Tollway Director to Address Chamber

Kristi Lafleur, executive director of the Illinois Tollway Authority, will be the guest speaker at the monthly Regional Consensus Luncheon of the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce, on Monday, April 9, at the Tinley Park Convention Center, 18451 Convention Center Drive.

Lafleur will give an update on the tollway including the Tri-State Tollway Interstate 294/Interstate 57 interchange project.

The luncheon runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is open to the public. Tickets are $30 for members and $40 for non-members. For information and reservations, call the chamber at 708-957-6950 or visit http://www.chicagosouthland.com/.

Boutique Hotel Planned for Homewood

Claude Gendreau, who acquired the Ravisloe Country Club in Homewood in 2009, has announced plans to turn a branch of Great Lakes Bank into what he called a “boutique hotel” to service guests attending wedding receptions at the country club and other corporate clients.

Plans call for Gendreau to acquire the bank branch at Ridge Road and Martin Avenue in downtown Homewood and to spend as much as $4 million to convert the building into a hotel with 35-45 rooms. The new hotel is expected to be open for business by the fall of 2013.

The bank branch will close in June and operations there and its seven employees would be consolidated at its other Great Lakes Bank branch in the village, which would be renovated.

99-cent Iced Tea at Dunkin

Participating Dunkin’ Donut locations are offering any size iced tea for 99 cents through the month of April.

Fairplay Foods Moving into Oak Lawn

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy

Supermarket choices in Oak Lawn, which took a beating in recent months with the closings of the Oak Lawn Fresh Market at 95th Street and Cicero Avenue and the Dominick’s Finer Foods at 87th Street and Cicero, will pick up with the coming addition of Fairplay Foods, a neighborhood supermarket chain with seven locations across the Southland.

“We’re celebrating,” said Fairplay’s Mike Kozlowski, Vice President of Retail Operations and a partner in the business, which will be moving in to the former Dominick’s at 87th Street.

“We had a nice meeting with town officials and some of them knew us from shopping at our store in Worth,” he said.

“We’re not sure when we’ll be ready to open,” said Kozlowski. “We are redoing the store entirely. We’re going to give it a new look. We have to bring in all new equipment.”

Kozlowski said when ready, the new Fairplay will feature a bakery and hot food department, expanded produce and deli departments as well as the company’s trademark fresh meat department.

“We concentrate on our fresh meat department,” Kozlowski said. “It’s one of the things we’re known for; great quality.”

“We are a neighborhood store,” Kozlowski said. “Unlike some of the big box supermarkets, we know what our clients are looking for and we want to give them what they are looking for.”

The Oak Lawn store will be almost 52,000 square feet, which would make it one of the bigger stores for the 40-year-old chain.

Fairplay has three locations in Chicago as well as suburban locations in Hickory Hills, Worth, Markham and Dolton.

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

New Nail Salon Opens in Mokena

Kal Nails Spa opened a few weeks ago at 10148 W. 191st St. in the space next door to 191 South in Mokena.

The salon offers manicures, pedicures and similar salon services. On its website, the salon says that one thing that sets it apart from other nail salons is that all of its specialists speak English so a customer can relate exactly what kind of service is being requested. It also will take customers as young as 5 years old.

The salon is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For information, call 708-478-6285, or visit its Facebook page or its website.

Farmer Agent Moves into City

Jose Saldiver recently moved his Farmers Insurance office from 7236 W. Benton Drive in Frankfort Square to 5215 S. Archer Ave. in Chicago’s Garfield Ridge community. The phone number is still 708-263-4493.

His office manager said the move made sense because the vast majority of their customers were from the city’s Southwest Side.

Blissful Banana Café Now Open

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy

With lengthy construction delays finally behind them, Cyndi and Dennis De Zutter will open the doors today on their Blissful Banana Café at 15447 S. 94th Avenue in Orland Park.

The couple from Orland Hills originally intended to open their gourmet coffee shop and café in early January, but construction and other delays made that impossible.

They passed their village inspection last week and opened their doors at 7 a.m. Monday in a so-called soft opening.

Cyndi De Zutter said they would schedule a grand opening for later in the month.

In an earlier interview, De Zutter said everything on the menu was going to be made in-house and good for you.

“We’re steering toward healthy,” she said. “We won’t have any fryers and all of our lunch meats will be nitrate-free.”

De Zutter said the café will feature gourmet coffee, scones, muffins, side salads and a frozen concoction called a Banana Whip.

“We use pure bananas that are whipped into a custard-like soft ice cream,” she said. “Everyone who tries it will love it.”

The café will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For information, call 708-349-9600 or visit their Facebook page.

Paula Deen’s Kitchen Opens at Casino

Southern celebrity chef Paula Deen’s Kitchen will hold its grand opening on Thursday at Harrah’s Joliet Casino.

The restaurant and adjoining retail store have been open for a couple of weeks in redesigned space at the casino.

The restaurant features buffet stations and an ala carte menu modeled after some of Deen’s other eateries including Lady & Sons, Deen Brother’s Barbeque and Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House.

For reservations, call 815-740-7800.

Weenie Wednesdays

This one is a favorite of my 5-year-old grandson. The Creamery is again offering 99-cent hot dogs on Weenie Wednesdays at all six locations in the Southland.