New sports bar replacing Flip Flops in Carol Stream

The owners of a sports bar near Lombard plan to open a second tavern early next month in Carol Stream.

JT's Corner Tap & Eatery is replacing Flip Flops Tiki Bar & Grill, a fixture for the past decade in a strip mall near Gary Avenue and Lies Road. The tropical-themed restaurant closed late last month.

JT's owners are making minor renovations to the interior and the palm-covered bar ahead of the anticipated opening in the first week of November.

The restaurant group, Puzzled Minds Management, also operates JT's Porch Saloon & Eatery, a sports bar that serves burgers, wings and sandwiches off Roosevelt Road near Lombard. Its Carol Stream establishment will be a similar concept in the The Fountains at Town Center strip mall, said Tom Farace, the village's planning and economic development manager.

The restaurateurs have indicated to Carol Stream officials that they plan to seek village and state permits to install video gambling machines in JT's. Flip Flops also had the machines.

Carol Stream trustees approved an ordinance allowing for JT's liquor license Oct. 2. The bar's owners also have obtained a state liquor license. They need to have valid liquor licenses to be eligible for a video gambling permit under state law.

JT's owners also must secure permit approvals from both Carol Stream trustees and the state gaming board.

Illinois allows up to five terminals in a business with a municipal liquor license. Owners and operators each get 35 percent of the net income from gambling, the state gets 25 percent and towns receive 5 percent.

Bob and Chris Sabalaskey, the owners of Flip Flops, meanwhile, announced the closing of their dining spot in late September, thanked their patrons and employees and fittingly quoted a Jimmy Buffett song in their "so-long" message on Facebook.

They continue to own and run Chrissy's Gaming Bar & Grill along Gary Avenue in Carol Stream.

"We have been blessed with creating friendships that will go far beyond our times at Flip Flops Tiki Bar & Grill," their post read.