Ballydoyle opening new pub in Bloomingdale

Bloomingdale bands better start tuning their instruments, because they'll have one more venue to play when Ballydoyle Irish Pub comes to Stratford Square Mall this winter.

The 9,700-square-foot pub will offer food, live music and party rooms and will open in an expanded version of the mall's former Houlihan's site.

Ballydoyle owner Phil Cullen said the pub will have the same feel as its other locations in Downers Grove, which has been open for six years, and Aurora, which opened last year.

"It will have the same menu people love and a similar live music line up as the other facilities, but mixed with local bands," Cullen said. "It will also be retrofitted and we will be reclaiming items, such as stained-glass windows from a church in Iowa."

The restaurant will seat 335 customers indoors and have a patio that seats 36. It also will play host to open mic and trivia nights after its slated opening at the end of the year.

Bloomingdale officials said they are "extremely happy" to welcome both Ballydoyle and Orchid Japanese Restaurant, which is set to open in mid-November in the 6,800-square-foot former Carlos Sweeny's site.

"It sounds like they are going to be a great addition to the village," said Village Administrator Dan Wennerholm. "Given the economy, we are happy to see that people are interested in undertaking new restaurants and choosing Bloomingdale."

Wennerholm added that Bloomingdale created a business district encompassing the mall that created an additional 1 percent sales tax within Stratford Square. The revenues, he said, are helping new businesses get started and funding mall revitalization projects.

"One reason was to enable the village to assist with getting new tenants, primarily to get the mall performing as it should," he said. "The plan by the mall owners was to (renovate) the movie theaters, which they did three years ago, and then get the major restaurants back in business. That's what's happening."

Cullen said he did not receive financial incentives to bring Ballydoyle to Bloomingdale, but is receiving help with installing the HVAC system and electricity on site from Stratford Square.