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Second suitor for Buffalo Grove Golf Course eatery

Buffalo Grove has a second suitor for the rights to run the restaurant at the Buffalo Grove Golf Course.

Village trustees Monday heard from the owners of Mambo Italiano in Mundelein, who are pitching a gastropub they would call The Wild Buffalo as the clubhouse eatery.

The proposal comes a little more than a month after Tap Room Hospitality, which operates the Village Bar & Grill at the golf course, presented trustees with a plan to rebrand the restaurant under a Southern theme. Tap Room's agreement with the village to operate the restaurant expires at the end of the year.

Mambo Italiano owners Salvatore and Briana Cardone touted their local credentials to board members. Salvatore grew up in Buffalo Grove and graduated from Buffalo Grove High School, while Briana spent most of her life in Buffalo Grove and Long Grove and graduated from Stevenson High School.

"We really do love Buffalo Grove and the surrounding areas," Briana Cardone said. "We would love to own and operate a business in this town."

Prior to opening their restaurant in 2004 and operating Couture Caterer for the past 13 years, they worked for Valentino Vineyards in Long Grove.

They presented village officials with a packet illustrating their proposed menu items, which included entrees such as roast duck, sandwiches, including a buffalo burger, wraps and pizza. Their target clientele would range from families to "girls coming out for cocktails" and, of course, golfers, Briana Cardone said.

The Cardones also discussed proposed upgrades to the restaurant space and said they have between $100,000 and $150,000 set aside for the work.

"I am well aware that it does need some work," Briana Cardone said of the restaurant's interior. "It's very dated. So we would just like it to be more inviting than it is now."

She also said the couple would want to have video gambling at the establishment, noting they opened Mambo Italiano after her husband won $40,000 on a scratch-off lottery ticket.

Village Manager Dane Bragg said the village would make HVAC and plumbing improvements to the facility at the same time its new operators make whatever other improvements. He said a shutdown of 90 to 120 days should be expected while that takes place.

Bragg said officials are preparing a comparison between the Cardone and Tap Room Hospitality proposals for village trustees and expects to have it ready in about two weeks.

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