Mexican, Mediterranean eateries coming to Naperville hotel development
"High-end" Mexican and Fast Mediterranean are new cuisines coming to the Freedom Plaza development on Naperville's north side.
Uncle Julio's and Pita Inn will be part of the development anchored by an Embassy Suites hotel on Abriter Court, which is between Diehl Road and I-88 just west of Freedom Drive.
The two new restaurants are expected to open sometime this year, joining Granite City Food & Brewery on the 13-acre site being developed along with the hotel.
The Uncle Julio's site gained approval from the Naperville City Council on Tuesday night to be slightly larger than plans put in place before Freedom Plaza construction began in August 2013. Original plans called for a 7,000-square-foot restaurant, but the Mexican eatery soon to be built will be 8,350 square feet.
Samir Lakhany, vice president of Freedom Plaza developer Superhost Enterprise, said the additional space will allow Uncle Julio's to build an outdoor dining area as it adds a Naperville location to restaurants it already operates in Lombard, Orland Park, Skokie and Chicago.
"It's going to create additional synergies in the site given that it's a high-end Mexican restaurant," Lakhany said.
A fourth free-standing restaurant is expected to be part of Freedom Plaza, but Lakhany said he is still in discussions with a few companies to choose the operator.
The new restaurants coming to Freedom Plaza are near several others in Freedom Commons, which includes Maggiano's, Bricks Wood Fired Pizza, Jason's Deli, Naf Naf Grill, World of Beer, White Chocolate Grill, Morton's The Steakhouse and others.
Naperville officials have said the highlight of the Freedom Plaza development is a 13,000-square-foot ballroom within the 168-room Embassy Suites hotel that will have room to seat up to 1,000 people for banquets.
The city council in June 2013 granted Superhost Enterprise $7.5 million in incentives to help fund construction of the hotel, banquet center and restaurants. The incentives mainly will be paid over time in the form of hotel tax and retail sales tax rebates.