Lettuce Entertain You restaurant coming to Wheeling Westin

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises got the go-ahead this week to start collecting bids to convert empty restaurant space in the Westin Chicago North Shore into a casual Italian restaurant.

The Wheeling village board voted unanimously Monday to approve the project.

“How exciting this is for the village of Wheeling,” said Jon Sfondilis, village manager.

Lettuce Entertain You would convert the previous sites of Osteria di Tramonto and Gale’s Coffee Bar into one casual, moderately-priced, Italian sit-down restaurant.

Even though the restaurant group operates more than 30 restaurants with a variety of themes, it is creating a new concept for the Wheeling location.

“We feel that there’s an awful lot of attraction in Wheeling,” said Mark Tormey, managing partner of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. “I think it’s a vibrant community we will do well in.”

The plans also call for an outdoor seating area in front of the restaurant that would seat 54 people and be protected from traffic by outdoor planters.

“It’s nice to do business with people we’ve had good relations with in the past,” said Ethan Hughes, director of sales and marketing for the Westin Chicago North Shore.

Tormey said the hotel setting on Wheeling’s famous Restaurant Row was ideal.

“It almost gives you the best of both worlds where you get business from the hotel as well as business from the community,” Tormey said.

While this would be the restaurant chain’s first eatery in Wheeling, it operates Wildfire and Big Bowl in Lincolnshire and Di Pescara in Northbrook.

Hughes said its previous successes in the area are what made Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises such an attractive partner.

The new restaurant will take over space that has been unoccupied since Osteria di Tramonto closed in 2009 and Dale’s Coffee Bar closed in 2008.

The Westin operates the two other restaurants in the building: RT Lounge, a sushi restaurant, and Tramonto’s Steak & Seafood, both created and originally run by celebrity chef Rick Tramonto. The new restaurant, however, will be run by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.

Tormey expects construction to begin in midsummer and the restaurant to open in mid-fall.