Lake Zurich gastro pub owners plan for expansion

Since the public unveiling of their plan for a new two-story restaurant and commercial development on lakeside property in late August, the four co-founders of Consume in Lake Zurich have been overwhelmed by positive feedback from the community.

"Every day we get asked about it and it's amazing because we're so excited about it," said co-owner Dhiren Patel.

Consume's proposal is to redevelop the property, commonly referred to as Block A on West Main Street, owned by the village into a new two-story, roughly 11,540-square-foot retail-restaurant building.

The owners intend to move the business from its current location at 569 W. Route 22 to occupy the upper floor of the new building.

They intend to set up a market space within one of the three ground-floor tenant spaces offering higher-end meats, cheeses, craft beer, liquor and wine. The second tenant space will be occupied by Swiss Mountain Coffee.

An operator for the third tenant space has yet to be determined, according to the village website.

Under the proposal, the top floor of the new building would provide the gastro pub's patrons with lake views and one of three commercial tenant spaces on the first floor would house the Consume bottleshop.

Plans still must be reviewed by the village's planning and zoning committee and be approved by the village board.

During its first seven years in business, Consume has won over a cadre of loyal fans and become part of the Lake Zurich community, the owners said.

The origins of Consume date back to 2012 when cousins Uday Patel, Dhiren Patel and Ankur Patel were running a liquor store in Arlington Heights and first met Reed Bartuska.

Bartuska arrived there in search of a beer that he couldn't find anywhere else and over the years went from being a loyal customer to a friend.

In 2015, the cousins sold the liquor store and when brainstorming what to do next Bartuska, who'd had years of hospitality experience including time as the general manager of the Vernon Hills WhirlyBall, suggested they open a bar together.

"We were like, no, we don't know anything about that, we'll drink our profits away," Uday Patel joked. "We were trying to venture out of retail but we kind of wanted to stay in retail. So we all collaborated and were like let's open a bar with a shop."

They chose Lake Zurich as the place to start after demographic research showed there were a lot of Chicago residents who recently had moved within a 10-mile area of the village to start families.

Uday Patel said they sought to create a vibe that was similar to the city.

One important element was for guests to converse with each other so they have just one TV for sports.

"What we always said was relaxed but high-end at the same time," Bartuska said.

The owners did much of the work customizing the interior themselves. Throughout the building process passersby would knock on the door and ask what was going on.

Excitement for the new business built and though they hoped for a soft opening they were greeted by a line of customers down the block.

Over the years, a community has formed at Consume. Bartuska said when he comes in to bartend he often can't make it more than a few feet without greeting a customer who now is a friend.

"They have welcomed us wholeheartedly," co-owner Reed Bartuska said of their local customers.

"We have all created relationships and lives here and that's why we love the idea of staying here for the next step."