RoccoVino's Italian Restaurant Opening This Week in Orland Park

RoccoVino's is opening this week in Orland Park.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

RoccoVino’s Italian Restaurant is expected to open this week in the former Palermo’s location at 11255 W. 143rd St. in Orland Park.

General Manager Tony Gloria said the restaurant was going to have an invitation-only soft opening tonight and then probably open to the public on Friday.

“We should be ready by Friday,” he said.

Gloria said the Orland location is the chain’s fourth stand-alone restaurant and the first in the Southland. The chain also operates 10 satellite locations in places such as park district concession stands, but none are in the Southland.

“We open a new restaurant every couple of years and this year we stumbled across this location,” he said. “One of our owners knows the owner of this shopping center from Easter Seals and he told us this spot was coming open and here we are.”

Gloria said RoccoVino’s features upscale Italian in a casual atmosphere, and added the Orland location would offer a hybrid menu a little different from the other locations.

“We’ll have some creative pasta dishes, fresh seafood, veal and chops and all kinds of pizza, but with moderate pricing, especially for this area,” he said. “And our entire menu will be available for delivery.”

Gloria said the restaurant will be very involved in the community, as it elsewhere.

“We work with area groups on hot lunch programs and offer special discounts for schools. In fact, I’m catering the lunch for this year’s Orland Park Chamber golf outing.”

Gloria said in addition to dine-in, delivery, catering and carry-out, RoccoVino’s also has a small banquet room with seating for about 40.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

For information, call 708-460-5900 or visit their website or their Facebook page.

Palos Driving School Opens

Palos Driving School opened recently at 8134 W. 111th St. in Palos Hills, across the street from Stagg High School.

The school says its instructors are all teachers who have at least 17 years of teaching driver's education. It says it caters to busy students who can't take driver's ed at school, as well as adults. The school offers free home pick-up and drop-off services for behind-the-wheel lessons.

For information, call 708-974-8003 or visit the company's website.

Bath & Body Works Moves

Bath & Body Works opens at 10 a.m. today in its new space (across the hall from its old location) at Orland Square Mall.

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.blogspot.com.

Frankfort, Mokena Kick Off 2012 Farmer’s Market Season

The annual Country Market returns on Sunday to downtown Frankfort.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Fans of farmer’s markets can get an early start on the season this weekend when Mokena and Frankfort bring back their respective outdoor marketplaces.

First up on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. will be the new Mokena Downtown Farmer’s Market, which is replacing the old French Market.

The new Downtown Farmer’s Market is the brainchild of Tony Dina, Charlene Bergman and Barbara Bergman who wanted something new that might help the merchants on Front Street.

The new market has moved out of the Metra parking lot and instead will fill Front Street from Chase Bank east to Mokena Bank, said Dina.

“Hopefully, we will encourage some foot traffic for the businesses on Front Street,” he said. “The French Market didn’t do anything for the merchants. People would park in the lot, visit the market and leave.”

Dina said the idea for the new market came together very quickly and with the village’s blessing, and is being done on a shoestring budget.

Response, so far, has been good, he said.

“We will have more than 15 vendors,” he said Friday. “We’ve had some call up today that want to be here tomorrow.”

“We’ll have two musical entertainment areas, and hope to offer entertainment every weekend,” he said. “Later on, we’ll have demonstrations, like the Fire Department showing how to do CPR.”

He said the Farmer’s Market would set aside space for civic groups such as the Boy Scouts to showcase their group or promote a special event.

Dina sees the market growing, too.

“I know we’ll have some vendors in the crowd checking us out to see if they want to become part of the market,” he said.

Dina said there will be a ribbon-cutting grand opening of the new market in the next couple of weeks with Mayor Joe Werner.

For information on the market, call Dina at 708-525-0733, Charlene Bergman at 708-479-2706 or Barbara Bergman at 708-479-6182. You can also visit the Facebook page for the new Mokena Downtown Merchants Association.

Next up on Sunday will be the return of the Frankfort Country Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in downtown Frankfort.

This year’s market has its traditional site in the Breidert Green parking lot as well as additional space for vendors around the corner in a renovated Fra-Milco Cabinet Co. Parking lot. There are also new vendors coming this season.

For a map of the new layout and a list of new vendors, check out this story by Joe Vince, editor at the Frankfort Patch.

Smokin’ in Orland Park

Smokehouse, a restaurant that features burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and like fare, opened three weeks ago at 15020 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park.

Owned by Brian and Mary Yates, Smokehouse also will feature smoked chicken and ribs once some equipment issues have been fixed.

“I think we’ll have smoked chicken and ribs back on the menu by next week,” he said Friday.

Hours for Smokehouse are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The eatery is closed on Sunday.

“I need a day off once in a while,” Yates said with a laugh.

He decided to open the restaurant after retiring from the Evergreen Park Police Department.

Why Orland Park?

“I kinda like it out here,” he said. “The area has a little bit of everything.”

For information, call 708-403-9500.

Tom’s Closing in Homewood

This is the last weekend to enjoy a meal at Tom’s Restaurant at 1944 Ridge Road in Homewood. Longtime owner Tom Kataras is retiring after 65 years in the restaurant business and the eatery will close for the last time at 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 1.

I’d expect long lines as fans of the popular restaurant make a final visit between now and Tuesday.

Bloomin' Again

Every Bloomin’ Thing has reopened at 7648 W. 159th St. in Orland Park after its winter break.

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.blogspot.com.

Book Worm Café Nears First Anniversary in Oak Lawn, Coming to New Lenox

Lisa Abu-Samra and Mohammed Abu-Samra help a customer
at the Book Worm Cafe inside the Oak Lawn Library.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Chef Andy Vaitkus said the hardest part of opening the Book Worm Café in the Oak Lawn Public Library was having to work in such a small space.

“It’s only 550 square feet,” he said. “So, we do a lot of cooking with countertop ovens and convection ovens.”

That restraint hasn’t kept Vaitkus and his partners from making a go of the café, which will celebrate its first anniversary next month.

Vaitkus, who has 12 years of restaurant experience, said business has been great in their first year.

“We’re doing a lot of business,” he said. “But we still get a lot of new customers.”

Book Worm Café has a pretty extensive menu for such a small space. “Everything we make is from scratch,” he said.

The menu, so far, has included deli sandwiches, paninis, mini-pizzas, soups, pastries and brownies, though that’s about to change.

“In another week or so, we’re changing the menu to begin offering healthy choice items, vegetarian dishes, wraps and falafel,” he said.

The business is also expanding.

“We just signed a contract to open a Book Worm Café at the New Lenox Public Library,” Vaitkus said. “It will be opening June 1 and my wife will be running it.”

Vaitkus, his wife Nancy Jensen and sister Lisa Abu-Samra and her husband Mohammed Abu-Samra are partners.

Vaitkus and his sister grew up in Oak Lawn and his sister and her family still live in the village.

The café is located on the library’s first floor near the Raymond Avenue entrance. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1-4 p.m.

The café offers free wireless Internet access.

For information on daily specials, call 708-357-9676.

PNC Branch in Oak Forest Closes

PNC, which was one of the original businesses to locate in Oak Forest’s Gateway development at 159th Street and Cicero Avenue, closed its doors last week. The branch was closed on Friday as PNC moved accounts at that location to its branch at 7151 W. 159th St. in Tinley Park.

Lockport Express Medical Opens

Lockport Express Medical opened an immediate care facility Wednesday at 16427 W. 159th St. in Lockport, just off the Interstate 355 exit.

An open house grand opening will be Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with food, music and giveaways. White Sox mascot Southpaw will pose for pictures from 10-11 a.m. WCCQ DJ Roy Gregory will broadcast live from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be free blood pressure screenings and child car seat inspections by the Lockport Police Department. There also will be drawings for a Kindle Fire, a Day at American Girl Place and two tickets to a White Sox game.

The clinic is open daily and accepts most insurance plans. Staff doctors are Nagui Hanna, an MD who specializes in pediatrics and emergency medicine, and Matthew Glowacki, a DO who specializes in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine.

Clinic hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. No appointments are necessary.

For information, call 815-588-1111 or visit their website or check out their Facebook page.

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

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