Lakeside Inn sports new owners, same recipe for success

WAUCONDA – When a business is successful, sometimes a question arises. Why change a winning formula?

For the new owners of Lakeside Inn Eatery and Tavern in Wauconda, the answer to that question is, you don’t.

Three local women took over the inn in late September from previous owners Steve and Sheryl Wright, and the trio has seen continued success without changing the staple ingredients of a well-run restaurant – home cooked food, a family atmosphere and a long history of happy clients.

“I love food; I love people; [I thought], I’m going to give it a shot,” said Merrie Farwick, the co-owner who had the original idea to buy the restaurant.

Farwick, who lives in Wauconda, had worked as a waitress at Lakeside Inn, and the Wright’s encouraged her to take over when they saw how much she loved the restaurant. Originally, she was going to purchase the restaurant herself.

But then her friend Robyn Romer, also of Wauconda, heard of Farwick’s plan, and decided the restaurant wasn’t enough. With Farwick, Romer and Susan Poznan of Algonquin – who was Romer’s business partner at the time – putting in money together, they could buy not only the restaurant, but the real estate, as well.

So, they did.

“I just wanted to make sure I could waitress until I fell over,” Farwick said with a laugh. “So, I figured buying the place would be the best way to do that.”

The inn, which opened in 1847, is rumored to have been a stage-coach stop, a grand hotel, a brothel and even a frequent stop of infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone. But despite – or perhaps because of – its colorful past, the building has been a mainstay in Wauconda for more than 150 years.

“It’s kind of an institution,” Poznan said. “We had customers that came here in the [19]70s, and they still come. It’s basically a county landmark.”

And because of that, the three women didn’t see much need to change things.

“We’ve pretty much kept it the same,” Romer said. “It’s already got the ambiance. The whole aura of the place is so warm.”

Lakeside Inn can seat nearly 200 people between it’s lower level and upper floor – which still boasts the original wood bar from the inn’s early days.

But despite the bar, and a second bar on the lower level, the restaurant has a family atmosphere to it, Farwick said. The trio regularly hosts baby showers, rehearsal dinners and other parties.
And, of course, the food is fantastic.

“Everything here is homemade,” Farwick said. “That’s what we’re known for. We want people to come and be able to eat what they want to eat.”

The inn’s raspberry iced tea – topped with real raspberries – is the talk of the town, Romer said. People drive in from out of town for the prime rib special on Saturday nights; the cream of chicken soup is to die for and some people have said the burgers are the best they’ve ever tasted, she said.

Part of that success comes from “Chef Tony,” who has been in the kitchen nearly two decades, Poznan said. Farwick, meanwhile, still makes the jam the restaurant uses.

With the solid business history the three women inherited from a long-established restaurant, combined with their new vision on marketing and catering to people not only in Wauconda, but visitors, as well, Lakeside Inn will see much more success in its future, the women agree.

"The first time I walked in here ... I stopped dead in my tracks at the front door, and I said, 'If I were ever to own a restaurant, it would be just like this,'" Poznan said. "Little did we know, it would be this place."

If you go ...
What: Lakeside Inn Eatery and Tavern
Where: 110 S. Main St., in Wauconda
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday; now open for breakfast on the weekends
Contact: 847-526-4499