‘It’s so gratifying’: Longtime employee takes over ownership at Emmett’s Brewing Co.

Twenty-seven years after being a part of the opening team at Emmett’s Brewing Co. in West Dundee, Rob Kwiatek has realized his lifelong goal of restaurant ownership. And it’s right where he started.

Kwiatek purchased the restaurant concept where he’s spent much of his career, starting as a sous chef and rising to CEO of the brewery and restaurant that also has a location in Palatine.

He closed on the sale last fall and now that he’s had a few months to get his bearings, Emmett’s will commemorate the changeover with a ribbon-cutting celebration Friday, June 12, at 128 W. Main St. in West Dundee and specials throughout the weekend.

“I'll be honest with you, it’s terrifying to be responsible for all of it. You don't realize working for somebody the stress and the fear that comes with running your own business,” he said with a laugh. “But it’s kind of smoothed out now, and it’s so gratifying and it feels so good that I was able to do this.”

Andy Burns founded Emmett’s Brewing Co. in 1999 in West Dundee and named it after his grandfather. He opened a location in Palatine in 2007 and another location in Downers Grove that has since closed.

When Burns decided he wanted to sell the business, both he and Kwiatek agreed it was a “natural progression” that Kwiatek be the buyer.

“It was only fitting since I’ve helped build this place for more than 20 years,” Kwiatek said. “I couldn't leave it for somebody else to take over.”

Kwiatek said longtime customers needn’t have the same worries as they might have after an ownership change.

“Our culture won’t change because I helped to build the culture,” he said. “All I want to do is improve on it.”

One of those improvements involves going back a little bit and simplifying the menu closer to how it used to be. He said recent changes mandated by previous ownership were too upscale for what he wants Emmett’s to be, and made it more of a “destination restaurant.”

“We’ll still have nicer dishes on the menu, but we’re going to bring back a lot of the favorites that were more pub grub and comfort food,” he said. “We want to be in a comfortable level that’s affordable, so that you could sit and have a couple beers, couple appetizers, stay for dinner, and it’s not going to cost you an arm and a leg.”

Kwiatek said he wants both Emmett’s locations to be quintessential neighborhood spots.

“We want this to be people’s third place, you know, work, home and this is their third place, this is where they feel comfortable,” he said. “So it has to be affordable and the ambiance has to be comfortable and the service has to be great, and that’s what we're striving for.”

Kwiatek said he will likely try to brighten up the space to enliven the vibe a little bit, something that a restaurant with so much dark wood could always use. He also wants to make Emmett’s a place where people hang out in the bar to watch sports or stay later in the evening, as opposed to coming in for dinner then heading to another bar.

Aside from that he doesn’t plan to change much. Emmett’s will still have a picture of it’s namesake on the wall and they’ll still brew their beer from scratch at each location.

“This place has been in existence for 27 years, it only makes sense to keep that legacy going,” he said.

And what of the adult big wheel race that was once an annual event and had become so much a part of that legacy?

“It’s not completely dead,” Kwiatek said. “It’s so much fun and we’d love to keep doing it, we just need to find a way to make it more manageable and less expensive to put on.”

The ribbon cutting in West Dundee will take place at 4 p.m. Friday, June 12. Throughout the weekend anyone who mentions the celebration will get a free dessert with the purchase of two entrees.