New restaurant evokes nostalgic sense of barns of yore

Thousands of motorists speed past the busy corner of Randall and Orchard roads every day and I bet most of them have never noticed the building that has been going up near Camille's Restaurant in Randall Crossings in North Aurora.

From a distance it looks like a bland brick and stone one-story warehouse. The closer you get, the more you realize that The Turf Room is not just an ordinary building and it's not an ordinary restaurant. And it certainly is not like any off-track betting facility you've ever seen.

Owner Parker Grabowski of Sugar Grove said that the wood used on the building's exterior was taken from the aged wood of 10 old barns in South Dakota. Long, narrow, rectangular window slits provide a little light for the large dark rooms full of heavy dark wood tables, chairs and booths.

"We wanted something that looked aged. We mixed the wood from all the barns so we have different colors and it looks like stone from the road," he said. The interior walls are lined with tongue-and-groove wood from other South Dakota barns.

Grabowski keeps the horse and barn theme throughout the restaurant's bar area and separate dining rooms. Oversized newspaper reprints line the walls, each highlighting famous horses in history including Secretariat, the Pony Express and General Lee's horse.

In the center, near the front door is a large brick wood-burning fireplace surrounded by brown leather benches. Patrons can relax by the fire while waiting for their table.

In the spring, Grabowski said the restaurant will also provide outdoor seating by another fireplace.

There are six unisex restrooms off to the side of the bar. The individual stalls are meant to look like horse stalls in a barn.

"It makes you feel like you are in a stable," he said.

Real leather tack and harnesses decorate the walls and each room has different tile on the walls and sinks that look a lot like horse troughs.

The horse theme continues on the children's menu called "Mr. Ed's TV Dinners."

"We even serve the kids meals on our specially-made porcelain TV trays with little compartments," Grabowski said.

After hosting several private parties over the weekend, Grabowski and his staff of 70 have opened the bar, restaurant and off-track betting facility just in time for the Breeders' Cup Challenge this weekend in New Jersey.

The large flat-screen televisions placed above the bar play news and sports events. But behind the bar, the off-track betting room has dozens of televisions all tuned to horse racing events from around the globe.

Grabowski classifies the restaurant as American eclectic with separate lunch and dinner menus. The menu features happy hour drink and appetizer choices during the week and pizza, pasta, steaks, fish and salad choices.

"Our executive chef Shawn Hartwig comes up with different things. We bake our own flatbreads and pizzas in our brick oven," Grabowski explained. "One of our appetizers is the lobster corn dogs. When it's served it looks like a bouquet in a glass."

One page of the menu is devoted to listing the bar's signature cocktails and martinis and the selections of beer and liquor for sale. A back room in the restaurant is devoted The Turf Room's wine bar.

"We are big into wine. We have 300 different kinds with most under $50 a bottle," he said.

The Turf Room is similar to Grabowski's restaurant and wine bar The Newsroom in Minneapolis. He also operates Bud's Place in St. Charles and Tinley Park.

Grabowski has lived in Sugar Grove for 12 years and said he was looking for the right opportunity to open this type of restaurant.

"There aren't a lot of places to eat around here; not done to this scale," he said.

The Turf Room is open now but the official grand opening ribbon cutting is set for Thursday.

Grabowski said the restaurant will start serving Sunday brunches on Thanksgiving weekend.