Show-Me owner says it's not a family place
Naperville may be home to several family businesses and restaurants, but Show-Me's President Ron Cote doesn't plan on his place being one of them.
Cote spoke to the Daily Herald Thursday morning, prior the evening's liquor commission meeting, to clear up misconceptions he believes some opponents have of his establishment.
For weeks, a small group of opponents have spoken out at city council, written letters to councilmen and protested outside the proposed location at 1126 E. Ogden. They say Show-Me's wing, burger, and seafood menu delivered by “attractive, model quality Show-Me's servers” is a bad fit for the community.
“I make no claims to run a family restaurant. Never have. However we do a lot of family business,” he said. “I sell 40,000 kids meals on Frisbees every year.”
Cote admits that the opening of his establishments usually draw a predominantly male population itching to try the wings and check out the servers.
“When you first open up, the trend is you get a lot of guys wanting to check it out but as people come in and time goes on you'll see the place full of women and kids. and families just in for dinner,” he said. “Like I said, I don't claim to run a family restaurant but it usually happens on its own once people see what we're about.”
He's heard the concerns from the city about percentage of food sales compared to alcohol and says the city has nothing to worry about.
“We're a sports restaurant and we've heard some of the concerns from the city that we're a bar. But we do a lot more food business than bar business,” he said. “Our food sales average well over 60 percent in all of our locations.”
Cote admits his franchise may have also have an image or perception issue that he expects to “do a better job at fixing.”
Mayor George Pradel said he expects to decide in the next two weeks whether the city will grant Show-Me's a liquor license. If the license is granted, Cote said patrons can expect to be watching their favorite sporting events on large projection screens by mid-December.
“The electronics in our new stores are much more advanced,” he said. “You should be able to hame some great food and watch whatever you want on a 120-inch screen. I don't care what it is.”
That opening, he said, would also produce about 35 permanent jobs.
“Most of our girls are college students. It's a great way to go through school,” he said. “We tell them, ‘school comes first so get your grades.'”
Ultimately, if the Naperville location takes off, Cote said he could see a few more locations in the Chicago market. But right now he's focused on Naperville.
“We're excited about being here and the city has been great to us so far,” he said. “We think we're going to do very well and we hope people come in and give us a chance.”