Rep's Burgers coming to former Arby's location in Palatine

The operator of the popular Rep's Place sports bar in Rolling Meadows is launching a new restaurant - Rep's Burgers - in Palatine.

The Palatine village council Monday granted a special use and a liquor license allowing Mike Reppe to open the burger eatery in the former Arby's location at 139 N. Northwest Highway.

"I've been living in Palatine for about six years now," Reppe told the council. "I grew up in Rolling Meadows, so I figured between the two towns, I'll have them both covered."

The 48-seat restaurant is expected to open later this fall. Its menu will include smashed burgers, smashed chicken sandwiches, milkshakes, beer, wine and hard seltzers. It also will offer a drive-through, but not for alcohol sales.

Reppe said he will address concerns raised by neighbors about the previous tenant, which closed in 2022, including complaints about a 4-foot-high fence bordering the property. Neighbors said people would stand on the concrete slab holding up the fence and look down into residential properties to the east.

"I've lived in this house for 32 years," one neighbor, Lisa Lindemann, said at a previous village meeting. "I've had garbage in my yard. I've had wild animals come into my yard to eat Arby's food."

Another issue, she said, was the volume of the drive-through speakers.

"Everything that the residents wanted, we're handling," Reppe said Monday.