Finn McCool’s Irish Pub now planned for vacant Wheeling Town Center space
The proposed name and theme have changed, but a new restaurant is coming to vacant space in the Wheeling Town Center complex.
Months after proposing an eatery that would’ve been called the Wheel Haus, Schaumburg-based Ala Carte Entertainment now intends to open a Finn McCool’s Irish Sports Pub and Banquets at 373 W. Dundee Road.
The site is just south of a Moretti’s restaurant that Ala Carte opened in March. Ala Carte already operates a Finn McCool’s on Algonquin Road in Schaumburg, not far from a Moretti’s.
“We are so happy that the Moretti’s company sees Wheeling as a worthwhile investment,” Wheeling Village President Pat Horcher said Friday.
An Ala Carte Entertainment representative couldn’t be reached.
Most of the roughly 6,600-square-foot building had been occupied by Mia’s Cantina, which closed in April after less than five years in business. A dessert shop called Arctic Spoon operated in the building until last month, too. It closed as part of a deal to make room for a new restaurant from Ala Carte.
Signs for the two shuttered businesses were removed from the building’s facade this summer. Large, green dumpsters sit outside the building, waiting to be filled with construction debris and other trash.
Earlier this year, Ala Carte proposed buying the building for $1 million and making $500,000 in improvements before opening Wheel Haus. The plan had shifted to a Finn McCool’s by late July, documents indicate.
The company has a contract to buy the building, documents show.
The village board in June agreed to recommend the Cook County Board approve a property tax break from the county to offset the cost of the building purchase and renovations. That break could reduce the company’s tax burden by about $823,000 over 12 years, officials have said.
Ala Carte now is requesting village permits operate a tavern and a banquet facility on the property.
The village board will consider the requests when it meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at village hall, 2 Community Blvd. The meeting will be open to the public and livestreamed on the village’s YouTube channel.
Horcher said he’s particularly excited about the banquet offering. It will be a more affordable option for that service than is offered at the higher-end Westin Chicago North Shore on Milwaukee Avenue, he said.