McNally's moving a bit west for new home

A key location fronting West Main Street and backing up to the new First Street Plaza will go from Mexican to Irish in the spring.

Actually, the site at 109 W. Main St. in St. Charles that housed Miguel's Mexican restaurant has been empty - but will be the new home for McNally's Irish Pub.

McNally's owners have long coveted a spot at or near First Street, and are hoping the move from their East Main Street location will be completed with a target of opening Memorial Day weekend.

McNally's patrons will be able to drink or dine inside or outside at the new location, as plans call for two outdoor dining areas, one of them a second-level setup overlooking the new plaza.

"It's going to be awesome," said Erin Breslin, an employee at McNally's Traditional Irish Pub since 1998.

The move into the new location shouldn't be confused with the empty parcel of property on First and Main streets that was previously occupied by the Manor Restaurant. McNally's owns that parcel, and some have speculated in the past that a new McNally's would eventually rise at that location.

In the meantime, the Irish take over where Miguel's left off.

Pop's moves his shop: I'll have to wander a ways if I want to continue to get a Polish sausage or Italian beef from Pop's Place.

I had talked to Nick "Pops" Koutsonicolis for the past two months about the possibility of him opening a new restaurant at 184 N. Gary Ave. in Carol Stream, but he never made it completely clear that he intended to close his restaurant at 818 E. Main St. in St. Charles.

I figured he might operate two locations at least for a short time.

I was as surprised as other customers who learned last Saturday that it was the final day and last hurrah for Pop's Place in St. Charles and operations were heading east to Carol Stream.

I wish "Pops" luck in his new venture.

Odd man out: How many public address announcers does it take to handle a high school game? That's what United Center officials were wondering last week when a miscommunication resulted in Kaneland and Geneva both assigning announcers for their Saturday game on the Bulls' home floor. For Geneva, it was supposed to be a last hurrah for longtime announcer Kurt Wehrmeister, who is stepping down from that role.

It was agreed that each announcer could call half of the game, but Kurt backed off, saying it was Kaneland's home game and he worked the game last year.

For the environment: It would be hard for any environmental event to match the massive amounts of interesting information shared by experts last Saturday at the Fox Valley Environmental Conference in Batavia.

Keynote speaker Kay McKeen gave numerous recycling and conservation tips. I do a decent job of following most - except one. I don't take short showers, though I know I should.

During the winter, it's just hard to get out of that nice, hot shower.

But I'll have to do my part and stop wasting water.

dheun@sbcglobal.net