White Stag Tavern to open in St. Charles
Can a restaurant/tavern site make like a cat with nine lives?
It may not be the ninth life for the former Sugo Restaurant at 1307 E. Main St. in St. Charles, but it certainly has had a few different recent faces, one of them being “Sam’s.”
And another face is coming. The doors should be swinging open soon at that location for White Stag Tavern, an English pub that will be operated by Chris Yovanovic of Geneva.
The east side of St. Charles can use a new chapter in its restaurant history book, as both the former Rex’s Cork ‘n Fork and Baker’s Square restaurants remain empty along East Main. In the business model that worked well in the past, one restaurant opening in a particular area could spur others to follow suit. How that works in the “new” economy, or lack of an economy, no one knows for sure.
Plenty of laughs: My dad used to laugh so hard watching comedian Don Rickles on TV, I naturally had to join in. It#146;s probably why I am quite excited about seeing Rickles on Aug. 20 at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles.In addition to being hilarious, I always viewed Rickles as an underrated actor. He was quite good, for example, in #147;Run Silent, Run Deep#148; with Burt Lancaster and Clark Gable.Every guy wishes he could be like Rickles, but it didn#146;t work so well for me in Catholic grade school. But it worked for him on #147;The Ed Sullivan Show#148; or #147;The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.#148;Wine just natural: It was nice to see cooler heads prevail regarding temporary licenses for selling wine outdoors during the upcoming Festival of the Vine in Geneva. After all, wine is a natural part of this annual festival in early September.The new ruling stems from the squawking of wine lovers last year after the Little Traveler#146;s outdoor wine sales were shut down by police because of city and state liquor code violations. Aldermen recently amended the code to allow temporary outdoor sales of wine and beer during a festival or fair.On the east side: An astute reader expressed confusion last week after I mentioned a potential Culver#146;s restaurant in St. Charles was coming to Main Street and Pheasant Run Drive. It wasn#146;t entirely clear in my column item that the restaurant will be located in front of the DuPage Expo building across the street from Pheasant Run Resort. But I had no idea there was another Pheasant Run Drive in St. Charles, until this reader told me of one on the west side that goes into the Pheasant Trails subdivision near Burr and Dean streets.To make sure, I had the city development department confirm that Culver#146;s is indeed going to be on the east side.Stands test of time: Has any social event in our history endured like a sock hop? Baker Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Charles hopes so. The church is staging a family sock hop from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday open to the public. A silent auction and 1950s music highlight the event, which costs $10.