Tilted Kilt Irish pub opens today in Elgin

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, a new bar and restaurant with an Irish and Scottish theme is opening along Randall Road.

Today is the grand opening for Tilted Kilt at 2300 Bushwood Drive in Elgin. The upscale sports pub, which is just north of I-90 in the spot where On Cue and Hennessey's used to be, has been highly anticipated in the area.

Other locales across the country, including Chicago, are popular. And when news came that Tilted Kilt was opening along the Randall Road corridor, people took notice.

Tilted Kilt's event manager Amanda Moreau said the business has been getting phone call after phone call each day from people wondering when it would open.

"People are pretty excited about us coming out here," she said.

Tilted Kilt is a bar and full-service restaurant.

The Elgin location is different from other Tilted Kilts in that it has a music lounge upstairs, called the Highlands Music Lounge at the Tilted Kilt, Moreau said.

What isn't different is the Tilted Kilt's signature look. Both the men and women employees wear kilts.

But they're not exactly your traditional Scottish kilts.

For the women, the costume is a short kilt-themed skirt with a matching plaid bikini top. The men wear black kilts.

And the restaurant's slogan is, "A cold beer never looked so good."

"We do have the same costume here that everyone talks about," Moreau said.

To celebrate St. Patrick's' Day and their grand opening, Tilted Kilt will have a special line up today.

A live band, The Breakers, will be playing outside on the patio. For this special opening event, there will be a covered patio with a Red Bull bar, Moreau said.

My Morning Driver and ARRA will play throughout the night in the Highlands Music Lounge.

Starting at 5:45 p.m., the Dundee Scottish bagpipers will play as they walk throughout the restaurant, Moreau said.

For the opening, there will be no cover charge, she said.

"We're going to have a great time. We're going to have some specials and people will want to come out," she said.

After the opening, the business will be open daily, with the upstairs open Wednesday through Saturday.

The music lounge will have different bands and DJs playing music each night, Moreau said.

Wednesday will be country music, Thursday will be ladies night, Friday will be DJs and Saturday will be bands, she said.

"We'll have everything from cover bands to pop rock to hopefully some national bands pretty soon. Then, they'll be followed by DJs," she said.

The establishment has a 3 a.m. license every night except for Sunday, when it is 1 a.m.

Tilted Kilt opens every day at 11 a.m., with the upstairs opening at 8 p.m.

While the upstairs is mainly a bar, the downstairs is a restaurant with some entertainment.

There are also HD televisions everywhere, Moreau said, with every sporting event you can think of televised.

"People are going to want to come see this," she said.

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.