Meat & Potato Eatery opening second location in Carpentersville

A fast-casual restaurant with a focus on home-cooked meals is expected to open its second location this summer in Carpentersville.

Almost a year after launching the first Meat & Potato Eatery in McHenry, owners and brothers Ted and Andy Zatos want to expand their brand into more towns throughout the Northwest suburbs.

The new Carpentersville establishment at 2258 Randall Road is being renovated to create a rustic, family-friendly atmosphere in anticipation of a June or July opening, Ted Zatos said. The building, which they are renting, has been vacant since the former Garibaldi's Italian Eatery closed almost six years ago.

“It just has all the ingredients we're looking for in an area,” Ted Zatos said, pointing to its location along a high-traffic corridor.

Meat & Potato Eatery may be a fairly new concept for the Zatos brothers, but their experience in the restaurant industry began decades prior. Growing up in Chicago, they helped run their family business before venturing on their own to work at quick-service restaurants, pizzerias and other establishments, Zatos said.

In 1997, the brothers bought Kojak's in Cary and ran it for 16 years, he said. In 2008, they opened their first Brunch Cafe in Fox River Grove and have since expanded to five other locations, most recently in St. Charles.

Because the Brunch Cafe is a contemporary breakfast and lunch sit-down restaurant, Zatos said, the brothers decided to create a new concept that attracts the dinner crowd.

Meat & Potato Eatery, which will be open for lunch and dinner, will serve traditional and specialty sandwiches, gyros, Italian beef, chicken kebabs, various forms of potatoes and other dinner-style meals. Beer and wine are also available.

“We're building a brand,” Zatos said. “We've been successful with the Brunch Cafes, so we're taking the same high-quality service in food and trying to do another brand.”

The restaurant offers catering, carryout, delivery, drive-through and dine-in services, Zatos said. Though the McHenry location has a focus on counter service, the Carpentersville restaurant, which has about 100 seats, will allow customers to sit down and have runners bring out their food.

Zatos said they are hoping to open Meat & Potato Eatery establishments in Cary and several other nearby towns over the next year. The menus will vary slightly based on the popularity of certain items at each location.

The Zatos brothers are also seeking potential employees to work at the Carpentersville restaurant. Applications can be submitted at mnpeatery.com.