Huge Japanese eatery, classic-car shop part of Hoffman Estates center
Two new businesses, including what village officials say is the Midwest’s largest Japanese restaurant, will be celebrated next weekend for breathing new life into Hoffman Estate’s Golf Center shopping complex.
Located on the west side of Roselle Road between Golf and Higgins roads, the center is home to 17 businesses. It underwent major improvements in 2005, including a new facade, parking lot and landscaping.
The shopping complex’s newest additions are Royal Japanese Seafood Buffet, which has an undetermined opening date, and Underground Autosports, which opened May 15.
The village is hosting a Fall Shopping Extravaganza and Grand Opening event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17-18. It will feature sales at about a dozen of Golf Center’s businesses, along with prize drawings, a car show and other family-friendly activities. Tours of the new businesses will also be available.
The Shopping Extravaganza is part of a new campaign launched by the village earlier this month to encourage residents to shop locally.
“Any new business, obviously, in today’s environment, is welcome and we celebrate that,” said Gary Skoog, director of economic development for Hoffman Estates. “But we’re really excited about these (two new businesses) because they’re really unique.”
The family-run Royal Japanese Seafood Buffet fills about 23,000 square feet and will seat more than 500 people, Skoog said. It is in the building that housed The Room Place furniture store about a year ago, he said.
“It’s a like a Home Depot,” said manager Ron Lin, adding that the family wants the restaurant to be a “one-stop restaurant depot” for the large Asian population in the Northwest suburbs.
Skoog said the restaurant will stand out among other local businesses because of the exceptional effort the Lin family put into the building’s design and menu, which includes more than 60 selections of sushi, 40 Chinese dishes and a teppanyaki grill where customers can watch a chef cook their food.
“You think you’re in Vegas when you go in there,” Skoog said, raving about Asian statues and a pool of goldfish in a waiting area near the entrance. “It’s like an experience, not just a place to eat.”
Royal Japanese Seafood Buffet will be open during the week from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and on weekends from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Underground Autosports, owned by Naperville-area residents Perry Rossi and Brandon Zaleiski, offers services for classic vehicles as well as muscle cars and sports cars. It is filling a space between Fabbrini’s Flowers and Party City.
Zaleiski said this is his and Rossi’s first venture into the automobile business and that they chose Hoffman Estates because of the easy access to highways, the large space and the fact that the area’s demographics support their business model.
Underground Autosports is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Zaleiski recommends making an appointment by calling (847) 278-1040.