Batavia to open new eatery with help of loan

Another restaurant is going to try for success in a spot on North River Street in Batavia.

With the help of a $100,000 loan and a $25,000 grant from the city, Fox's will likely move in to 31 N. River. The space was most recently occupied by Shawn Michel's Bistro, which opened in May and closed in July earlier this year.

The loan, from a fund supported by a special tax on downtown properties, is intended to help pay for adding sprinklers. Plans by Fox's to increase the capacity of the restaurant triggered that requirement. Besides the restaurant, the sprinklers will have to be installed in apartments and offices above it and in next-door offices in the building.

Fox's will be the fifth operated by the Fox family. It started with Fox's Beverly Pub on the South Side of Chicago in 1963, and has outposts in the south suburbs of Oak Lawn, Orland Park and Mokena.

The loan and grant will actually go to the owners of the building, Bruce and Mary Claire Harris. "There was some confusion about that. I did get quite a few phone calls and e-mails," said Alderman Alan Wolff, chairman of the community development committee.

Venice Tavern was in the space for several years, until closing in November of 2008. It has also housed a Charlie Fox's Pizzeria, the Chops on the Fox steakhouse and cigar bar, and Icehouse Grille and Bar in the last 11 years.

"It's been kind of a start-and-stop operation there for the last couple of years and has not had a great deal of continuity," Mayor Jeff Schielke said.

The $100,000 loan is for five years, at 3.5 percent.

Alderman Eldon Frydendall did not vote on the issue, as he owns property in the special taxing district and the law prohibits him from discussing or voting on financial matters affecting the district.

"I would invite anybody who is really curious about this to get in a car and drive to one of the restaurants," Schielke said, describing them as family-friendly places that serve pizza, steaks, fish and sandwiches.