Eddie's Restaurant plans to return to its old haunt

Eddie's Restaurant & Lounge - a staple on Northwest Highway in Arlington Heights for 60 years until it closed two years ago - plans to reopen Labor Day weekend.

The village board approved a liquor license Monday night that will allow Eddie's, 10 E. Northwest Hwy. at Dunton Avenue, to be open till 1 a.m. on weekends.

The restaurant has been redecorated with memorabilia from movies and sports dating as far back as the era when the site opened in 1949, owner Kyle Schaeffer said. His sister, Devin Schaeffer, who has experience with food and alcohol service in Arizona, will manage the restaurant.

Some of the former employees will be back, the Schaeffers said.

The Jensen family opened the restaurant and owned it for two generations. While celebrities stopped in - Eddie Arcaro, Wilt Chamberlain and Marlon Brando - the establishment had many regulars and was packed for Friday night fish fries during Lent.

And yes, there will be fish fries Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Devin Schaeffer said.

In other business, the board allowed St. Simon's Protestant Episcopal Church, 717 W. Kirchoff Road, to build an outdoor columbarium, niches where church members' ashes can be stored.

Richard Kile, a member of the church's landscape committee, said two areas would be tucked behind the church and not visible from Kirchoff Road.

Ninety-six outdoor niches were approved. The church already has a columbarium inside, Kile said. He said no neighbors appeared when the Arlington Heights plan commission held a public hearing last month.