Two new restaurants coming to Libertyville
Restaurant openings in recent years have created a vibrant dining scene in downtown Libertyville but two ventures in the works come with interesting twists.
Both involve successful restaurateurs who are pursuing second locations for new concepts. But neither husband and wife team is going far.
A few weeks ago, Lee and Kristina Kuebler closed Milwalky Trace at 603 Milwaukee Ave. and are modifying the interior and adding equipment outside for its rebirth as Oscar Lee's BBQ. They also operate Milwalky Taco next door.
“Milwalky Trace was definitely well loved by most of the community,” Lee Kuebler said. “There were a lot of factors at play.”
Billed as an “urban hangout” but with only 40 seats, the small venue required a lot of Kuebler's time and was not particularly family friendly, he added. The plan is to double the size of Milwalky Trace at a to-be-determined spot in Libertyville.
For now, the focus is on central Texas-style barbecue in a reinvented restaurant named after the Kueblers' soon-to-be 2-year-old son.
“We hear it all the time — we know the demand (for barbecue) is there,” Kuebler said.
The new venture will focus on simplicity. There will be three house and one seasonal sauces but they will be sides.
“The more you take out of the equation, the more you rely on the product and the skill of the person cooking,” Kuebler said. “Really good barbecue doesn't necessarily need sauce.”
Pork spare ribs and hot links will be among other traditional barbecue offerings but smoked prime brisket is “going to be our wheelhouse,” he said.
At the Green Room, across the street at 624 Milwaukee Ave., Maria Mandarino and Dan Temesy say they have become well-enough established to take a run at the former Mischief's Brewing coffeehouse near the downtown Metra station.
Mischief's succeeded Caribou and was in business five years before recently closing. Mandarino said the couple last month signed a lease on the coffeehouse and plan to reopen it as a venue offering a community feel with fresh food, like homemade biscuits and gravy and avocado toast, prepared and served quickly.
“Fresh on the fly,” she said of the pending offerings. A small batch roaster also has signed for the coffee aspect of the menu. Plans call for the operation to offer breakfast and lunch. The operating name is Birdie's Coffeehouse but that could change.
Mandarino said the building was available five years ago but the eclectic Green Room, where Temesy spins discs from his vast record collection and patrons can pick the songs on “Black Vinyl Monday,” was just getting started.
“We couldn't swing it five years ago,” she said. Business has been good, and the time is right to expand.
“We're doing very well. We had a record Saturday night last week and we're shocked by it,” Mandarino said.
Dining continues to grow in popularity in Libertyville. There are about 85 listings in the village's 2018 Dining Guide and the share of sales tax from drinking and eating places grew from $730,861 in 2015 to $808,925 last year, an increase of nearly 11 percent.
“We've had seven restaurants open on the street after us and we've fretted each time,” Mandarino said. “But it only makes us all a little bit better and work a little harder.”