After years of planning, Tonality Brewing now open in Mundelein

After years of planning and renovation work, Tonality Brewing Company in Mundelein finally opened its taproom at 169 N. Seymour Ave., to customers over the weekend.

Zach Gelfand said he met co-founders Don Phillips and Tony Bena through a love of home brewing. In 2015, Phillips founded the North Urban Brewing Society, a home-brew club that meets monthly at Perfect Brewing Supply in Libertyville, of which Bena was a founding member. Gelfand met the others at the store and after a few years they decided to pursue their shared dream of opening a craft brewery. The trio incorporated the business in September 2019.

Gelfand said they chose the site because of its vicinity to Lake Street and because the building seamlessly could accommodate their brewing and dining operations. Renovations totaled around $3.4 million.

“Beyond the kitchen and brewing equipment, which are significant expenses, we took this place down to the studs and rebuilt everything,” Gelfand said.

Built in the 1940s as a fire station, the 7,200-square-foot brick building most recently served as a public works maintenance garage until being vacated in 2020.

Other expenses include buying and demolishing a nearby car wash to provide customers parking as well as adding an outdoor patio to the building's west side, Gelfand said.

And if all goes well, the team plans to convert the building's currently unused second floor into an event space, Gelfand said.

“It allows us to stay on the same property and still have room to grow,” Gelfand said.

In December 2020, the trio started to talk with village officials about their plan to buy the building, which eventually they purchased for $340,000.

A big group of village employees stopped by for lunch at the grand opening Friday. Gelfand said it was nice to see their support after working together for nearly three years.

The taproom is open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner. Currently, it is the only place to enjoy Tonality's beer, but Gelfand said, fans should be on the lookout for the beverage to appear in other restaurants and bars in the near future.