Fire damage closes Stanley's in South Elgin indefinitely

Just days after Stanley's Restaurant & Ale House celebrated its 10-year anniversary, a Thursday morning fire has indefinitely closed the South Elgin eatery.

Owner Scott Stanley said the kitchen fire started around 10 a.m. and was caused by a malfunction in a salamander, a piece of equipment used for toasting, browning or melting. Grease caught fire and went through the attic. The kitchen is unusable until it can be repaired.

While the dining room, bar and the rest of the building at 335 N. McLean Blvd. escaped damage, Stanley's can't reopen since it is licensed as a restaurant and it doesn't have a working kitchen. Stanley said he's working with the village to get a temporary tavern license so he can reopen without serving food.

"The village has always been really good to me," he said.

Stanley is very active on social media and says the restaurant is "a big part of the South Elgin community." He posted a video on Facebook Thursday to keep followers and patrons up to date on what happened.

"This is probably one of the hardest things I've ever gone through," Stanley said in the video. "We beat a national pandemic, and just as things are starting to open and are going good for us, this happens."

"It's just emotional right now," he said. "It's our 10-year anniversary."

Stanley was more optimistic Friday but admitted Thursday was rough.

"I'm not too ashamed to admit that after everybody was gone, I popped a beer and sat in the banquet room and I just started crying," he said. "After all the shutdowns, all the stuff, I'm just tired. But what do I do, stop?"

"I don't stop. We pull up our pants and keep going. We'll make it work."

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the restaurant, its employees and families; visitors can search for "Stanley's Ale House" to find it.