ST. CHARLES – The Office Dining & Spirits is more than a restaurant where, as noted on its sign, it's always 5 o'clock.
It's a place that salutes St. Charles' past, specifically the businesses and entities that once called the building, at 201 E. Main St., home.
Over the noise of a radio and electric tools, general manager Scott Updegraff on Thursday walked through the yet-unfinished restaurant – it's set to open to the public on Jan. 31 – as he explained the concept of the eatery.
Its name, he said, stems from the office store that opened there in the mid-1960s. That history will influence the restaurant's decor and even its menus; Updegraff said they are planned to be presented on clipboards.
But the restaurant also will decorate rooms so they pay homage to their history as a library, opera house and bank, Updegraff said.
Murals and pictures will be displayed to show people what the space once looked like, he said.
Renovations have been under way since June, Updegraff said, noting those who knew the building as the former site of McNally's Irish Pub won't recognize it.
"It will be a shock," he said.
New bathrooms have been installed, a 46-inch flat-screen and three 55-inch TVs will hang in the bar area, a vegetable and herbs garden will be planted outside for the kitchen's use, and a three-seasons patio contains an outdoor kitchen equipped with a wood-fired oven and flat-top grills, Updegraff said.
The menu will change seasonally and feature "fine comfort food," such as crab cakes, salmon, salads, soups, sandwiches, marinated skirt steaks and dry-aged pork, Updegraff said.
Dining areas include the patio, an upstairs room for private parties and a semi-formal dining room, he said.
Updegraff plans to offer keys to working mailboxes inside the restaurant to regular customers.
Items, such as gift certificates, will be left in the mailboxes, he said.
The Office Dining & Spirits is owned by 2nd and Main Enterprises. The St. Charles City Council approved a Class B3 liquor license for the establishment in September.
The Office Dining & Spirits
Where: 201 E. Main St.
Hours: Open for lunch and dinner daily beginning Jan. 31.
Phone: 630-549-0287