Bar and grill finds great success in opening weeks

WAUCONDA – For 21 years, José Banuelos helped manage Idol’s Sports Bar in Palatine.

When the business closed late last year, Banuelos and his daughter Delila Delatorre knew it was time to act.
They had planned on opening a restaurant for some time, and even had a place picked out in Norridge, but that deal fell through at the last minute, Banuelos said.

When they found three-and-a-half acres available off of Route 12 near Wauconda, they knew it was the right place to be.

“My skin got all bumpy,” Banuelos said, noting that he made an offer on the location 15 minutes after seeing it. “[I said], ‘This is the new place.’”

In just two and a half weeks, Banuelos and Delatorre, with help from family members, completely renovated the more than 6,000-square-foot building that previously had been occupied by Wyncourt Restaurant and Lounge, Cafe Bulgari and, most recently, Villa Sofia.

They opened J & D’s Bar and Grill on July 18, and business already has been booming, Banuelos said.

“I ran out of fish the first Friday [I was] open,” Banuelos said, adding that the restaurant had lines out the door some of the first nights. “The next Thursday, [my] baby back ribs ran out ... . There’s nothing compared to this [in the area]. No one has pool tables, no one has the prices I have.”

J & D’s features meals under $10, drinks under $6 and an atmosphere that allows grandparents to bring the grandkids, but also gives working men and women a place to relax, Banuelos said.

While the family crowd can dine in the restaurant, the bar crowd can play pool and darts while watching sporting events on plasma TVs.

“We gotta do something for the community so they can come and eat and have a couple drinks and play a few games,” Banuelos said.

J & D’s is the first restaurant the father-daughter duo has owned, and Delatorre said while they were confident they could run a successful business, they weren’t quite ready for the response they have received the last several weeks, including having regular customers.

“We did not expect the flood that we got at all,” Delatorre said.

In fact, the restaurant changed its hours after the first week and started offering lunch because so many patrons had asked for the service, she said.

Other Wauconda-area restaurants have seen immediate success in their opening weeks, said Deb Ogorzaly, economic development coordinator for Wauconda.

“We’ve had the same thing happen when Bulldogs [Grill] opened on Main Street, when Slyce [Coal Fire Pizza] opened ... Docks [Bar and Grill], we had road jams on [Route] 176 ... when they opened their outdoor deck,” she said.

And while the village does not receive sales tax from J & D’s because it resides in unincorporated Lake County, the business draws people to the Wauconda area, Ogorzaly said.

"I think in a small community, everybody gets excited about a new opportunity for dining," she said.
Donna McPhee of Barrington recently stopped in for lunch with coworkers Todd Czarnowieski and Jose Guerrero.

“I’ve been here several times in the evenings,” McPhee said. “I think it’s a really nice place. The food’s really good; [it’s in] a good spot ... it’s a night and day difference between what it is now and what it was.”

In the future, Banuelos and Delatorre would like to expand the outdoor space to include room for sand volleyball courts, bags tournaments, an outside bar and TVs.

The business also may contract with a valet company to provide complimentary door-to-door service to customers.

For now, however, Friday night fish fries – with fresh tilapia – and other menu items, will help people to come back.

“The good thing about Wauconda, your customers are loyal customers,” Delatorre said. “They like the food, they like the place, they like us, and they keep coming back.”

If you go ...

What: J & D's Bar and Grill
Where: 26400 N. Rand Road, in Wauconda
Hours: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. weekends
Contact: Call 847-526-2112