Changes on tap for downtown Libertyville dining scene
A mainstay restaurant on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville has closed but intends to start fresh nearby, while a familiar name in pizza will be taking its now vacant spot.
Salerno's Ristorante & Pizzeria, which opened its first restaurant in Berwyn in 1966, has announced a move to 602 N. Milwaukee Ave., the former home Trattoria Pomigliano, which is preparing a new location a few blocks away on Cook Avenue.
The Libertyville village board on Tuesday will be voting to increase the number of Class C liquor licenses from seven to eight so that one can be awarded to Salerno's. Class C allows for liquor sales with meals only.
"We've got some work to do. Hopefully, in a month or two, little by little, we'll see what needs to be done and get it open," said Michael Salerno.
The company also has locations in Oak Park and Bolingbrook. It had a location in Vernon Hills, but that closed after the owner lost the property. A Glenview location closed June 28 in anticipation of the move to Libertyville, according to Denise Nabat, Salerno's partner.
A resident of Gregg's Landing in Vernon Hills for 15 years, Nabat said downtown Libertyville is desirable because of the location and traffic. They plan to freshen the restaurant's interior with new lighting, add a new sound system and revamp the outdoor patio. The restaurant will seat about 90, and because of sparse parking, will offer curb service carry out.
After about 20 years at School Street and Milwaukee Avenue, Trattoria recently closed and, according to its website, is on summer vacation as construction of its new location at 160 E. Cook Ave., continues. The restaurant is a reconfiguration and renovation of an existing building, a portion of which is occupied by MainStreet Libertyville.
"We're delighted they're going on the side street because it expands the reach of downtown," said Pam Hume, executive director of the downtown development and preservation group. "Not everyone can be on Milwaukee Avenue nor do they need to be." A grand reopening is expected in September.
"They wanted it to be the neighborhood restaurant, a cozy kind of thing," Hume said of the family operation.
The owners could not be reached Monday, but the restaurant is described on the website as bringing old world Italian meals to the village's downtown historic area.
A surge in restaurants in recent years led the village at one point to consider a moratorium because of parking issues during certain times, but that idea didn't advance. The newest arrival is O'Toole's of Libertyville, which opened last month after an extensive renovation of the former Mickey Finn's at 412 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Also, Hume said a Clucker's Charcoal Kitchen, which has a location in Highwood, is scheduled to open in the former Big Ed's BBQ space at 536 N. Milwaukee. As for parking, the village board on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on the final exterior design for a parking deck to be built on the current Civic Center surface lot, just south of Cook Avenue and west of Milwaukee Avenue.
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