‘Getting real close’ to opening: New restaurant to occupy gateway space in Lake Villa

Lake City Grille, named as a nod to Lake Villa’s early days, plans to open soon in a prominent vacant space along Route 132 and Cedar Avenue, the gateway to the village’s downtown area.

Tom Bystol, owner of First Draft Grayslake, is readying the building last occupied by Timothy O’Toole’s restaurant to serve familiar American food favorites with 24 beers on tap and plenty of screens for sports fans.

“We were trying to get it open about three weeks ago,” he said. “We’re getting real close.”

Bystol says the Lake City Grille menu will mirror First Draft’s selections of American fare, including a variety of appetizers, burgers, chicken wings, salads, sandwiches, wraps and more.

And, as in Grayslake, the new venture will feature food made from scratch.

“We make everything ourselves,” Bystol said. “It’s a working kitchen, it’s not frozen food by any stretch.”

In learning about Lake Villa, Bystol said he came upon village history and named the restaurant after the private resort and grand 150-room Lake City Hotel, built by E.J. Lehmann, on land between Cedar Lake and Deep Lake. His first-of-its-kind resort, built to entertain friends, guests and vacationers, was destroyed by fire in 1915.

The building at 10 W. Grand Ave., once operated as Blackthorn Grille before closing. The husband/wife team of Humberto Martinez Jr. and Libertyville native Sara McKinnon, converted the building to Timothy O’Toole’s in 2018.

After months of work, the fourth Timothy O’Toole’s location opened mid-2018 and closed in late 2025. Bystol, a Third Lake resident who grew up in Libertyville, said he has known the couple for decades and came to an arrangement for the space this summer.

Bystol said he has been in the restaurant business his entire life beginning at a bar on Division Street in Chicago and was a partner in the original First Draft in Chicago from 2013 to 2018 before selling his stake to cut his commute and concentrate on his home turf.

He acquired a 7,000 square-foot building at 250 Center St., in the heart of Grayslake, expanded it by 11,000 square feet and opened First Draft in August 2020.

The restaurant business has changed considerably, he said, and because margins are smaller, restaurant owners have to make up the difference in volume. That led him to opening a second restaurant.

“Margins in this industry have shrunk dramatically,” he explained. “You need to have more sales.”

Besides reasonably-priced food, gambling machines are part of the operation but not the focus, Bystol said, and will be located in a separate area.

“You won’t be able to see the games or hear the games,” he said.

“It is kind of a big part of the restaurant business these days,” Bystol added. “If nobody had it, I wouldn’t care about it.”

At about 5,000 square feet on a single level, Lake City Grille is much smaller than First Draft but the menu will be quite similar.

Timothy O’Toole’s was founded more than 30 years ago in downtown Chicago and subsequently opened in Gurnee and Libertyville before coming to Lake Villa. At the time it was part of an incentive program by the village to revive and revitalize Cedar Avenue north of Route 132.

“We’re grateful for the years O’Toole’s served our community and for the investment they made in Lake Villa,” Mayor James McDonald said in a statement.

“We’re excited to see renewed interest in this prominent downtown location and welcome a new restaurant that will bring fresh energy to the area. We look forward to working with the new owner, supporting their success, and welcoming them as they put down roots in Lake Villa,” he added.

Economic incentives have not been sought in connection with the new business but “may occur naturally” as the business becomes established and explores future investments, according to Village Administrator Michael Strong.

For now, the focus is supporting Bystol and Lake City Grille through the opening process, Strong added.

“We hope Lake City Grille becomes a successful part of our community and downtown,” he said.

mzawislak@dailyherald.com