‘We will have an awesome sandwich’: Riganato owners to open HoneyBird chicken restaurant in Geneva

It’s not a question I often ask, but it’s on a topic friends and readers will, on occasion, share an unsolicited opinion.

That topic would be restaurants and, without my probing, those folks will just mention they consider Riganato Old World Grille in Geneva as their favorite restaurant.

There’s nothing scientific about such feedback, as most of us have a restaurant we lean toward more than others. And I have heard others mentioned. Yet, Riganato has come up more than a few times.

It does illustrate that Riganato, the creation of father-and-son owners Nick and Jimmy Nicolaou nearly 14 years ago at 700 E. State St., has had significant staying power.

With that operation is humming along, it is no surprise the owners are zeroing in on opening a second restaurant, west of Riganato, at 427 E. State St.

After acquiring a home dating back to 1877 for a reported $280,000, they had the vision of converting it to HoneyBird, a restaurant for dine-in or takeout broasted chicken sandwiches and sides.

“Right now, we are thinking early March for opening,” said Jimmy Nicolaou, who backtracked only slightly after first saying March 1 was a target date. “We have gotten a lot done, but there are some little tweaks left in working with the contractors,” he added. “Even though it is a small place, it has taken some time with the permits.”

With the intent to bring broasted chicken made through pressure friers “that create a better taste” to diners, Nicolaou said, HoneyBird also represents the continuation of a family goal.

“When I was a teen, we had a broasted chicken place in Bartlett,” he said. “But, at the time, with my dad having young kids and stuff, there wasn’t enough time for him to do it.”

After that, Nicolaou noted, the idea of a broasted chicken business “was always in the back of our heads to do it, but we just kind of modernized the take on it this time.”

Nicolaou feels many people don’t know what the term “broasted” means. “It’s kind of a cultural term from Wisconsin, but the idea is the same as a pressure fry, as it creates a crispier, less greasy fried chicken.”

HoneyBird will offer “different takes” on the concept, he said, with its hot or honey glaze sandwiches, tenders, fried perch and “a lot of different sides.”

For those quick to say we have a million chicken places in the Tri-Cities area, I would say this: It is true, but nothing like this is available along East State Street in Geneva and, maybe even more importantly, the American consumer has been turning to chicken and fish aggressively in the last decade.

Various sources citing meat consumption indicate chicken, due mainly to its protein and affordability, remains the top meat choice on American dinner plates. They eat it to the tune of 118 pounds per capita annually, according to meat processing software provider Carlisle Technologies.

No, we’re not giving up on red meat, though we are cutting back, with Americans eating about 84 pounds of beef per person a year.

A great steak or burger is always going to catch a lot of attention on a menu. But chicken has found its place. Whether it’s a quick-serve or fast-casual operation, a site offering a specific type of chicken (like Chicken Salad Chick in Batavia), family dining or a more upscale operation, American consumers’ love affair with chicken dishes is not likely to fade.

HoneyBird plans call for about 24 indoor seats and another 16 on an outdoor deck during warm-weather months.

Any redevelopment or repurpose of an older structure along East State Street in Geneva falls in line with the city planners’ future vision for that part of town. It keeps some character intact, yet enhances services to the community.

As such, the city granted about $35,000 in post-COVID American Rescue Plan Act funds, with the new historic preservation and reuse qualifiers, to aid the HoneyBird project and the building’s needed ADA restrooms.

Though no tax increment financing money was available because of East State Street construction, a 1% sales tax incentive was provided for the project, Nicolaou said.

Nicolaou isn’t concerned about the road construction along East State Street that will unfold during the restaurant’s first year or more.

“It will be a bit of a situation for us, but the road construction will be a great improvement, making it much easier to turn in and out of the restaurant,” he said.

Mostly, he intends to have HoneyBird deliver what it is promising.

“We will have an awesome sandwich that people will like, tenders and also on-the-bone chicken,” he said. “A lot of tenders places are opening up, but they are kind of afraid to do on-the-bone, which is more work, but these pressure friers create fried chicken like you’ll never see.”

Some big retail spaces

With news that Crate & Barrel in the Geneva Commons is closing this month, and the At Home store farther south on Randall Road in Geneva has closed, it leaves us with a few questions.

What kind of stores or businesses are seeking large retail space like this? What would come in next? And how long would it take to fill them?

Nearly 10 years ago, we saw an empty Sports Authority site on Randall in Geneva eventually become an Ashley Furniture location, and an empty Sam’s Club warehouse site in Batavia along Randall recently become a Tesla delivery and service center.

There’s a reason owners of larger retail centers are talking about adding kids’ entertainment venues, medical offices or different types of services in empty locations.

They look like safer options for faster occupancy and, ultimately, longevity.

We all know what other businesses seek larger facilities — the e-commerce giants for distribution centers, the Walmarts and Targets of the world, major supermarket chains, some electronics places, and supply chain management sites. And, dare I add it? Pickleball places.

We have those all over the place already. Thus, my questions about what happens next for our latest empty sites.

If readers have any good ideas about what could come into our larger vacant retail locations, send me a note and I will share your thoughts.

But don’t come up with the kind of idea I had some 30 years ago when St. Charles was contemplating what to do with its empty St. Charles Mall building on the west side.

I suggested a professional Roller Derby rink/stadium.

First exhibit for 2026

The St. Charles Arts Council isn’t wasting any time in 2026 in terms of luring visitors into its Arts Resource Center at 121 N. Second St. in St. Charles.

The council is hosting its Legacy Invitational artist reception from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, kicking off its first exhibit, which runs through Feb. 1.

The artists showcasing their skills are Sue Anderson, Lathoriel Badenhausen, Ed Cook, Pat Lagger, Gene McCormick and Rosalie Vass.

The public is invited to the reception for this exhibit, which carries the theme “Creativity is Ageless.”

Back on the range

A recent story in the Daily Herald about the return of American bison to a forest preserve near Sycamore reminded me of a fascinating story a colleague told me in 1977.

It was my first year at Chronicle Newspapers in St. Charles and the colleague was an older gentleman serving as a courier, picking up copy (typed stories) and rolls of film at outer offices and bringing them to the main office, or delivering tear sheets (copies of ads) to advertisers.

He said he was part of the last cattle drive out of Sycamore into St. Charles to load herds on train cars for delivery into Chicago when he was a teen. It maybe wasn’t like a John Wayne western on the open plains, but the workers were on horseback riding through Illinois prairies.

He said he was age 13 during this event, meaning it would have been in the early 1920s.

He was specific about the route. Many years later, it became known as the Great Western Trail, a popular walking and running path for area residents.

Stomach halts streak

It would have been a nice, round number. Two thousand straight days of 10,000 or more steps.

Most of my friends and maybe even many of my readers knew I had established a habit of walking at least 10,000 steps a day. And I just kept doing it.

But it all came to an abrupt halt at 1,903 straight days when a bacterial infection invaded my gastro system and triggered a nuclear bout in yet another of my ongoing battles with ulcerative colitis.

My stomach and I have been combative enemies for as long as I can remember. Sometimes, I win. Sometimes, stomach wins.

Readers may have noticed my comments in the column about restaurant visits have tailed off a bit, which means stomach was winning.

So, in the biggest victory for stomach in some time, my step streak ended at just more than five years. Prior to the setback, I wasn’t going to give up easy. I reached my daily steps goal for at least three weeks when surely not that healthy.

Stomach didn’t like that, and fought back even harder. So, I let it have this victory.

The next step streak starts as soon as possible.

dheun@sbcglobal.net