Elk Grove Village aims to promote hometown eateries

Elk Grove Village officials are considering a new program to market the town's restaurants.

The village board Tuesday night agreed to survey the town's 160 to 180 eateries - that include everything from Subway to fine dining restaurants - to determine whether there is enough interest to launch such a program.

Customers who frequent participating restaurants would likely collect points and get bigger discounts.

"It's a way to try to get people to stay in the community and patronize our restaurants," Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said.

Village Trustee Pat Feichter noted presently there are only two village restaurants that offer coupons on the popular Web site restaurant.com.

"It seems there is a declining interest by many of these places to use these coupons," he said.

Village Trustee Jeff Franke said such a program wouldn't be worth the effort if only a handful of restaurants decide to participate.

Johnson assured the village's program would be purely voluntary at no cost to participating restaurants.

"In today's market, if someone wants to go around and market me for free, I wouldn't say no to it," he said.

Village officials plan to talk to area towns with established marketing programs to use as a model for Elk Grove.

In nearby Wheeling, known for its "Restaurant Row" encompassing 14 eateries along Milwaukee Avenue, a combination of word-of-mouth and marketing made the town a dining and lodging destination, said Peter Vadopalas, Wheeling economic development director.

"The village was founded in 1894 basically for that reason," Vadopalas said. "(Wheeling) naturally kind of developed as a lodging and dining stop for visitors going from Chicago to Milwaukee. It's a feature of the village that we've been trying to maintain and grow over the years."

The biggest promotional tool is a dining and lodging guide distributed by the Wheeling-Prospect Heights Chamber of Commerce, he said.

Wheeling also is a member of the Prospect Heights Convention and Visitor's Bureau, which promotes member communities outside a 50-mile area. The bureau manages information kiosks at O'Hare area oases on I-90 and I-294 that promote Wheeling's dining opportunities, Vadopalas said.

And village officials are updating the village Web site to include graphic and interactive mapping features simplifying the location of Milwaukee Avenue restaurants. The new Web site will provide links to various restaurants and information on what they offer.

"We've been trying to focus more on getting a Web presence," Vadopalas said. "We are in the process of designing a new marketing brochure that will highlight Restaurant Row and all of our retail opportunities."