Crosstown Pub opens in Batavia, highlights rivalry

Just in time for the Super Bowl, Batavia has a sports-oriented pub.

Crosstown Pub and Grill opened Friday night at 1890 Mill St., in the former El Casanova Restaurant.

The owner plans to play off the traditional sports rivalry between Batavia and Geneva high schools, as well as the friendly animosity between Chicago Cubs and White Sox fans. It will have 22 television sets, and the restaurant plans to show some high school sports.

It has found success doing something similar with its Naperville location, according to general manager Eric Lyon. He said the restaurant will work with school booster clubs on special promotions. At the Naperville restaurant, parents of athletes often come in to eat before going to games, or bring their children there after, he told the Batavia City Council earlier this month. The location is not far from the Geneva-Batavia school boundary line.

Crosstown has won awards for its hamburgers and chicken wings, and its owner and chef, Jim Nichols, has been featured on television shows on the Food Channel and Food Network. That has happened as Nichols' expanded the menu. There are 21 dry rubs, 21 sauces and seven dressings available for the wings. You can get the wings grilled or fried, and there are gluten-free toppings available.

The Batavia location will feature something new: a tapas-style selection, including something called "The November" that will feature fried turkey breast, cornbread and cranberry chutney "It's kind of like a mini-Thanksgiving," Nichols said.

The items are meant to attract people who just want a quick, small snack before attending a movie across Mill Street at the Randall 15 theaters.

"Being a public house, before when we were first opened (in Naperville) it was more of a bar, being 80 percent alcohol sales and 20 percent food," Lyon said. "We do 80 percent food sales now."

There will be two bars: a wine-and-whiskey bar, and another devoted to pouring 40 draft beers.

Mayor Jeff Schielke told Lyon the high school sports theme could catch on.

"Probably on nights, specifically of high school basketball and football games, you could be really rocking out there if you do this the right way with bringing in the fan bases from both of those schools, because there's a huge base out there," he said.

Nichols, who lives in St. Charles, said the Crosstown in Naperville has been deemed a "go-to" spot in the Chicago area for wings. "But now it's just closer to home," he said.