ST. CHARLES – After opening without fanfare, John Parker didn't know how fast the city's newest restaurant would fill up.
But just about a week after Prasino quietly opened its doors, the restaurant's tables have quickly filled with curious and hungry customers, said Parker, the restaurant's general manager.
"We're on Day 7," Parker said Wednesday. "And judging by the number of people coming through here, word of mouth is spreading fast."
Located in one of the newly constructed retail buildings on First Street, just south of Main Street (Route 64), Prasino offers what its owners and managers hope will be a new kind of dining for residents of the Tri-Cities and surrounding communities.
The restaurant's menu and concept is largely identical to the first Prasino restaurant, which opened in La Grange just months ago.
Parker said the restaurant's overall theme is to offer food and an environment that is "clean and green."
"We will be clean in the sense that we offer mostly organic food – and we say mostly only because we can't promise it will always be organic," Parker said. "But we take great care to make sure that our food is free of unnatural ingredients."
The restaurant will also offer local seasonal food offerings, as available, Parker said.
Menu offerings include breakfast, lunch and dinner, including carrot cake pancakes, a lobster omelet, beef hamburgers featuring beef from Niman Ranch, and dinner entrees including seafood, vegetarian offerings and beef and lamb dishes also from Niman Ranch.
The menu is the same as that developed for Prasino's La Grange location, Parker said, as it has been developed by executive chef Scott Halvorson.
Prasino believes it can call itself "green," as well, as its decor features recycled and reused products, including wood salvaged from the former Sportsman's Park and lampshades made of recycled cardboard. Parker said the restaurant is pursuing green restaurant certification, as well.
Despite continued weakness in the economy, Parker said customers have seemed pleased with Prasino's offerings. He said Prasino's owners, Ted and Peggy Maglaris, and management believe they have targeted their offerings to the right people at the right time.
"We're offering down-to-earth food in a community-based, non-corporate atmosphere," Parker said. "This is what people are looking for, as we come out of the recession."
If you go
Address: 51 S. First St., St. Charles
Phone: 630-908-5200
What they offer: Breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings featuring mostly organic foods, including local produce, when available, and meat from Niman Ranch, offered amid a decor featuring recycled and repurposed products.
When they opened: Sept. 16, 2010