Restaurant with cricket simulators could move into former Buca di Beppo site Wheeling

A restaurant equipped with cricket simulators could replace the shuttered Buca di Beppo in Wheeling.

A real estate investment company called Hamro Investment Group has proposed opening Cricket Simulounge at 604 N. Milwaukee Ave., which is on the north side of Wheeling’s Restaurant Row. The building has been vacant since Buca di Peppo closed unexpectedly in August 2023.

The business would serve food and have a bar and lounge area, cricket simulators, spaces for private events and a video gambling room, according to village documents.

Hamro representative Manish Chaudhari led a public presentation about the plan during Monday night’s village board meeting. It would be among the few restaurants with cricket simulators in the U.S.; others are in Texas.

Resembling baseball, cricket is a centuries-old English sport that’s played around the world. Its popularity is growing in the Chicago area as the South Asian immigrant population rises here.

Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Hanover Park, Naperville and Hoffman Estates are among the suburbs with cricket pitches, as the central areas of playing fields are known.

Simulators allow customers to practice batting against screens, much like how people use golf simulators, Chaudhari said. Softer-than-usual balls and bats would be used at Cricket Simulounge, he said, so fans of all ages could play.

A roughly 4,950-square-foot addition to the existing 8,000-square-foot building is proposed. The new space would house the cricket simulators and event rooms.

While no formal action was taken, the village board unanimously supported the proposal Monday night and encouraged Chaudhari to move forward.

“Now you can really start the process,” Village President Pat Horcher told Chaudhari and his associates.

If the plan progresses, the village board will need to issue special permits for video gambling and other aspects. A review by the village’s plan commission will be required, too.