Quick interest in Ted's Montana Grill site

A restaurant group is looking into using the former Ted's Montana Grill site in Schaumburg only two weeks after its closure, while the more expensive and less visible Entourage building nearby is seeing little serious interest three months after its closure.

Schaumburg Economic Development Coordinator Matt Frank said 2010 generally has been a good year for restaurants despite the two closures, which apparently occurred for very different reasons.

According to Entourage officials in August, the restaurant suffered from a combination of poor street visibility and its bank ownership's unwillingness to spend much on advertising after its original owners went bankrupt.

Entourage was located on American Lane, just west of the more visible and still active Weber Grill on Meacham Road.

Ted's Montana Grill sat just south of Weber Grill on Meacham, on a site near Woodfield that couldn't be much more visible, Frank said. The closure comes amid rumblings of general problems within Ted's nationwide chain, he added.

Representatives at the chain's corporate headquarters in Atlanta could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The chain, founded in 2002 by media mogul Ted Turner and restaurateur George McKerrow Jr., still has three remaining Illinois locations in Naperville, Bolingbrook and Glenview.

Frank said it's understandable why there would be more immediate interest in the Ted's site, with both its visibility and less expensive architecture. Prospective buyers already are assessing the property for its remodeling potential.

Entourage opened in 2006 with 22,000 square feet of restaurant space, 7,000 square feet of banquet space and opulent architecture inside and out. The expensiveness of the building makes it a tougher challenge to find a new owner, Frank said.

In the meantime, Moe's Southwest Grill just opened at 1428 N. Meacham Road while Buffalo Wild Wings is searching for a location elsewhere on Meacham, he said.