Dog-friendly restaurant: Lazy Dog location proposed at former IHOP site in Buffalo Grove
The former IHOP restaurant site in Buffalo Grove could be going to the dogs - or, to be exact, a Lazy Dog.
Village board members on Monday will hear a proposal from Golden Property Development to bring a Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar to the vacant site at 51 McHenry Road.
The Costa Mesa, California-based causal dining chain is known for allowing patrons to bring their dogs to dine with them on pet-friendly patios. The restaurants also offer a pup menu featuring grilled hamburger or chicken in a bowl of brown rice and veggies for $5.
For human customers, the restaurant serves made-from-scratch American food and drink with seasonally inspired ingredients. The menu also includes items that might evoke memories of Swanson TV dinners, including roasted turkey, chicken Parmesan and meatloaf, prepared in-house and served in retro-style trays.
The chain's restaurants feature a decor that celebrates the Rocky Mountains, with open display kitchens, lodge- inspired furnishings and wraparound bars.
If approved, the Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar in Buffalo Grove would join other suburban locations in Oak Brook, Naperville and Vernon Hills.
The developer envisions a 7,400-square-foot one-story restaurant with a 1,300-square-foot outdoor patio on the site, which sits at the corner of McHenry and Lake-Cook roads. It will almost be double the size of the IHOP, which previously was a Wags and a Shoney's.
The village's planning and zoning commission will need to review the proposal, which seeks zoning variations for setback, landscape buffer and parking.
Because of the ongoing widening of Lake-Cook Road, the proposal cannot meet the 25-foot setback requirement, according to village documents.