New restaurant in Batavia will serve up breakfast, lunch items
Opening soon along Randall Road in Batavia is a new restaurant from the same restaurant group that brought you the classic favorite of many Chicago-area residents - Portillo's.
Honey-Jam Café is scheduled to open mid-August in the former Bennigan's restaurant at 521 N. Randall Road, next to Portillo's.
This will be the second Honey-Jam location for the Portillo's Restaurant Group. The first opened in May in Downers Grove.
Patty Sullivan, Portillo's executive assistant, said the owner has traveled throughout the United States - and even out of the country - visiting different restaurants and locales, getting ideas for the perfect breakfast and lunch restaurant.
Those ideas come together in Honey-Jam, which is named after Dick Portillo's family. The Honey comes from the nickname for his wife, and the Jam comes from the names of his sons - Joseph, Anthony and Michael.
The restaurant, which will have a full breakfast and lunch menu, has an upscale feel with décor you might not expect to find inside a breakfast and lunch cafe, Sullivan said. For example, the dining area has a large, double-sided fireplace as the focal point.
For the breakfast fare, Honey-Jam will feature food such as baked pancakes, specialty waffles, French toast creations, egg entrees, crepes and specialty skillets.
For a fun change, there will be an open area in the restaurant where you can see the waffles being made.
The lunch will include burgers, salads, wraps and panini.
The restaurant also will have an area for brewed and specialty coffees, with all menu items available for carryout.
The restaurant will seat 200 and has a private dining room for up to 56 people.
It will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Art for a Cause: This weekend, more than 40 artists will have their artwork on display at the second annual Algonquin Commons Juried Art Fair.
The fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15. Admission is free. The art fair will showcase different mediums, from ceramics to photography to jewelry to paintings, all in an outdoor setting.
Proceeds from the fair will go to the District 300 Foundation for Educational Excellence.
Each of the artists also will be donating one piece of artwork, which will be raffled off at the fair. Proceeds from the raffle also will go to the foundation.
The fair also will feature a children's art project and face painting, said project coordinator Diane Magerko.
• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Batavia to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or (847) 894-5036.