Panera moving into former Idols site in Palatine

After five years, the lot that has sat vacant next to the busiest intersection in Palatine will be the site of business activity.

A Panera Bread restaurant and two commercial buildings will be built at 1601 N. Rand Road on the northeast corner of the intersection of Rand and Dundee Roads, where Idols Sports Bar and Grill once stood before being closed by the village in 2010.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said the change from a rowdy sports bar to a family-friendly restaurant and other businesses is another step toward the village's long-term goal.

“It shows the investment that has taken place over the last 15 years from when the Target and the Jewel, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and everything went in,” Ottesen said. “It has been a long process of turning it around and getting it to be something more, something that people could be proud of.”

According to village documents, the 4,300-square-foot Panera Bread building would have a drive-through lane and seating for 95 customers. The other two independent buildings on the lot will be for retail and office use.

Idols Sports Bar and Grill, was closed down by the village in 2010 after its owner Michael Koumandarakis committed a felony and could no longer hold a liquor license.

Koumandarakis was found guilty of misdemeanor battery and felony criminal damage to property in connection with a June 2008 incident with some people involved in a dispute with his son. Records say he ran to their car with a walking stick, busting out windows and breaking off the rearview mirror.

The bar was in and out of trouble since it opened in 1994. In 2002, the village ordered Idols to comply with a number of conditions in order to keep its liquor license, such as banning employees from drinking with patrons and implementing a gang-awareness program with the police department.