Geneva favors replacement plan for Rib House

The east side of Geneva may soon see a new restaurant on the site of the former Rib House.

And a place that's been a favorite for 21 years downtown wants to change things up a little.

The Geneva City Council gave preliminary approval Monday to plans for a new restaurant at 700 E. State St.

It also approved of plans to add a cocktail lounge/bar at Le Berry Bistro at 227 S. Third St. It will officially vote on both matters Nov. 2.

The State Street restaurant would be "family-oriented," according to Dick Untch, the city's community development director. It would serve steaks, kebabs, sandwiches, pastas, pizzas and the like.

The owner will put a small addition on the building. He also bought an adjacent commercial property, which houses stores including the Me and Dad's Toys. Within three years, he will raze that building to make room for more parking for the restaurant.

The Rib House site does not have good parking and traffic flow right now, Untch said. There are four entrance/exits, part of the lot is gravel, and there is no striping in the lot. There's also no storm sewer or water detention area.

Under the plan discussed Monday there will be just two driveways. The restaurant will also rent the parking lot of a nearby upholstery shop for overflow parking, so people won't park on nearby residential Sandholm Street. And he will add a stormwater detention basin.

"We feel like we've got ... a much-improved site and hopefully a very viable use for the property," Untch said.

The Rib House closed more than a year ago. The new restaurant is expected to open in the spring.

Le Berry Bistro

Le Berry, located on the second floor of the Berry House Shops, plans to convert part of its dining room to an eight-seat bar area.

While approving that, the council will also rectify a mistake: Namely, the restaurant has been operating without a required special-use permit for years.

Restaurants are special uses in the downtown district. The original owner, who also owned the building, got one in 1988. But subsequent owners never obtained permits, and city staff didn't catch that.

Most likely that's because the city typically grants special uses to a property, not to a specific person, Untch said.

The city council is also likely to let Le Berry Bistro play music on its outside deck, something that was originally prohibited.