Fuego owner to heat up downtown with second restaurant

As the lunch crowd swarmed in, Eddie Nahlawi stepped outside Fuego and spotted a construction crew tearing up the corner outside his restaurant.

"That's not grinding!" Nahlawi said.

He was right -- the crew was in the middle of a month-long construction project, which wasn't odd. It was odd, however, for it to happen without Nahlawi knowing about it.

Two years ago, he opened Fuego Mexican Grill in downtown Arlington Heights. Today, around 500 diners visit the restaurant on a typical Saturday. During the week, diners wait outside for a table.

Now Nahlawi will try to replicate that. This week, the village board unanimously approved his plan to open Grand Station, an American cafe, on the southwest corner of Campbell Street and Vail Avenue. The Metro Lofts sales office, Two Butchers and Urban Harvest formerly occupied the site.

"People ask me, 'Are you trying to own Arlington Heights?'," Nahlawi said. "I tell them 'No. I'm just expanding like any other business.'"

Nahlawi graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with an engineering degree and absolutely no desire to work behind a desk all day. So he continued to work for the restaurant that helped pay his way through school and eventually became a director of operations for a major chain restaurant.

Then he decided he should open his own restaurant.

Today Nahlawi sleeps with a notebook next to his bed, ready for new ideas. He lives in Rolling Meadows with his wife and daughter, who is a toddler. He and Chef Juan Luis Gonzalez opened Fuego in November 2005. The menu reflects Gonzalez' home town in Mexico, Terra Caliente, or spicy-hot ground.

Before opening Fuego, Nahlawi spent months transforming a former bookstore into an authentic-looking Mexican hacienda with natural stucco.

While Fuego celebrates Mexican food and culture, Grand Station's music, decor, and entrees will be all American -- with dark, hardwood floors and accordion-style windows along Vail Street to give customers a view of Harmony Park.

A two-story staircase will connect the dining area to two banquet rooms.

Grand Station will be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, Nahlawi said. The menu will include a variety of salads and wraps along with American classics such as meatloaf and turkey with gravy, Nahlawi said.

"Downtown Arlington Heights is missing a great place for comfort food," he said.

Grand Station should be open before the end of 2007, Nahlawi said. The restaurant will be open until 2 a.m. on weekends.