‘Happy to be here’: Four Shadows sports bar and grill fills vacancy in downtown Wauconda

After four years, a frustrating vacancy in downtown Wauconda has been revamped and reoccupied by a new venture with a nod to the past.

Working feverishly to debut for the popular Wauconda Fest, Four Shadows, a sports bar and grill, opened June 25 as the new spot in town at the corner of Main and Mill streets.

“We thought we’d have this place open in May,” said owner Rob Dalton. “We were held up a little with the garage door and things beyond my control.”

The garage door-style window that opens onto Main Street is a modern touch for a Civil War-era building that has housed stores selling general merchandise and furniture, dry goods, ice cream, sweets and, for the past 50 or so years, restaurants.

From the Main Street cafe sign, age-old stamped metal ceiling, old photos — including one of James F. Carr at work in the ice cream shop he opened there in 1935 — the bar foot rail and other touches, Dalton has kept some of the historic spirit in a completely refreshed setting.

For 12 years until closing July 31, 2022, due to the pandemic, Bulldogs grill was a community staple.

Acting on resident input to fill restaurant vacancies on Main Street, the village crafted incentive packages to fill gaps, including the former Bulldogs.

For that space, the building owner was reimbursed $20,000 of the $25,000 total cost to replace the HVAC system and $15,000 was made available under a facade grant program. Of that, $12,500 will cover the garage door, new sign and building repairs, according to Village Administrator Allison Matson.

But other factors were in play for what seemed like Dalton’s unlikely move to Wauconda.

For the past 15 years, Dalton and a partner have operated the original Four Shadows at Ashland Avenue and West Diversey Parkway at the border of the Lakeview and Lincoln Park neighborhoods in Chicago.

Known as a lively sports bar with a loyal Iowa Hawkeye crowd, patrons who had become friends persuaded him to have a look at opening in Wauconda.

One is Todd Probasco, a South suburban resident and Wauconda Area Chamber of Commerce member who has a condo and boat in town.

“I said, ‘Hey, if I ever see a place would you be interested?’ He said, ‘Let me think about it,’” Probasco said. “I knew he’d do well here.”

So far, so good, says Dalton. Fine-tuning continues, with lunch featuring freshly made deli sandwiches, for example, introduced this week.

Dalton said he has been running bars for 25 years and at one point and was involved in several others in Chicago. But with five bars and new twins something had to go, said Dalton, who lives in Elk Grove Village.

“Just like my friends told me, Wauconda is going to love us and they have,” he said. “When I walked in, I knew it.”

As in Chicago, Guinness is the hallmark beverage on tap. So is a menu featuring fresh, never-frozen burgers, wings and chicken wraps. Even the garage door (although there are two in the city) are the same. But Four Shadows Wauconda has its own identity, he said.

“We are very happy to be here,” he said. “The town has just been so amazing, very welcoming. We’ve heard positive things.”

Besides Four Shadows, the village also covered $20,000 of a $40,000 roof replacement for a new restaurant called The Grand at 110 S. Main St. There also is a $15,000 facade grant available but the money hasn’t been spent yet.

Matson said the village in talking with small business owners came to understand the impact of diminished foot traffic noting that old buildings come with significant maintenance costs, she added.

“These small investments by the village helped the owners to get the buildings ready to be leased and helped preserve the Main Street we treasure,” she said.