Rolling Meadows sports bar owner rolls on, even with closing of Palatine location

The owner of Rep’s Place sports bar in Rolling Meadows has closed his Palatine location, Rep’s Burgers.

But owner Mike Reppe remains optimistic about the future of his Rolling Meadows operation and its expanding food truck business.

When Reppe announced in late 2023 he would open the burger eatery in the former Arby's location at 139 N. Northwest Highway, it seemed like a perfect fit. It was a natural gathering place for sports teams and their families coming from nearby Community Park, along with a potential customer base from nearby houses and businesses.

But last month, Reppe announced the pending closure.

He cited mounting overhead costs and disappointing foot traffic as key factors in closing the Palatine restaurant.

“It was too much work to stress out about paying the bills every month,” he said this week. “When I can do that product out of Rolling Meadows and/or the food truck, it didn't make sense to continue the struggle with all the extra overhead.”

In addition, the drive-through format led many to expect “more of a corporate, cheap fast food menu,” he said. That created a mismatch between the restaurant's offerings and customer expectations.

“Nothing came to fruition from everything that we had researched prior to opening,” he said.

Despite that, the Rolling Meadows location at 3200 Kirchoff Road continues to operate successfully, bolstered by a partnership with Brothers' Ribs that has resulted in barbecue accounting for 30% of food sales.

Also, Reppe’s food truck operation is making its presence known, serving menu items ranging from smash burgers to barbecue to tacos at events throughout the area.

Looking ahead, Reppe sees potential in the anticipated Bears stadium construction in the area.

“Our goal will be to hopefully get our food truck on the site of the construction,” he said.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t continual challenges, as meat prices, rent, taxes and labor costs continue climbing, he said. He contends the state’s minimum wage increase to $15 per hour has added additional strain.

Meanwhile, the Palatine location awaits its next tenant. Since everything is up to code and the less-than-two-year-old equipment remained there, the new tenant should expect basically a turnkey operation except for the signage, Reppe said.