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Don’t expect a beer and shot type of place when you walk into Wauconda’s newest martini bar, Strawberry Moon.
“If someone comes in and asks to watch a [sports] game, we’ll put it on, but without sound,” said owner Tom Malik.
It’s music that this bar is about.
“We’re playing things that I grew up with, like James Taylor, Sting, Journey – Def Leppard is as loud as it will get.”
Strawberry Moon, on Main Street in downtown Wauconda, is part of a tide of new, up-scale drinking spots in Lake County. Another new spot to hit the bar circuit is Chill Martini and Wine Bar in Lake Villa. Both venues have a full-service bar and light appetizers on the menu.
Sandy Hartogh, executive director of the Wauconda Area Chamber of Commerce, said businesses like Strawberry Moon help promote an upbeat social status without compromising the village’s small-town charm.
“The owners are locals and they renovated a building in a small town that has history and brought creativity to that space,” Hartogh said. “More and more people in surrounding communities are seeing Wauconda as a destination place – that’s very valuable for any town, particularly a smaller town.”
Connie Meadie, executive director of the Lindenhurst/Lake Villa Chamber of Commerce, said upscale drinking venues also reflect the changing needs of the local community.
“We love to see those types of businesses opening,” Meadie said. “It really fills a need in this area to have a nice, upscale place – I don’t think of a place like [Chill] as a bar. I think it’s great that the demographic in this area would support a business like that.”
Martinis, music and more
Strawberry Moon opened in late November and has been attracting new patrons daily, Malik said.
Malik, who opened the business with his wife, Karen Malik, said the couple have a history of renovating buildings and selling them. Before buying the building across the street from Tom’s law office – where he works as a full-time lawyer – the couple planned to sell it to someone in the bar business.
“We kind of fell into it,” Tom said. “No one wanted to operate it the way we wanted it operated. It’s a totally different type of business. [As a lawyer], I might go through a checklist every six months, here I go through checklists every day – with vendors, invoices and pay roll.”
Karen, who works as a chemist, said the couple’s venture into the bar business has been interesting and fun.
“It’s nice that all of your clients are happy,” Karen said.
Tom said towns like Wauconda are changing, and the new bar reflects that change.
Tom recalls when a previous bar in the same location had a bicycle rack in front of the building because most of its clientele had their driving licenses revoked.
“What’s interesting about that is the before and after,” Tom said while motioning to the renovated interior and cutting-edge video and sound system. “We’re dealing with more upscale customers that are a little more well-to-do.”
“With new development [Wauconda is] becoming more cosmopolitan,” Tom said.
“The population is getting older and there’s a market for this type of thing,” he said, adding that people come from as far as Crystal Lake and Lake Zurich. “These areas were in need of an upscale bar.”
Lake Barrington couple Debi and Larry Keith said they’ve traveled as far as to Schaumburg to have an upscale drink experience.
On a recent August evening, the couple enjoyed Strawberry Moon’s signature cocktail, Strawberry Moon, and cheese fondue during an evening out on the town.
Debi, who described herself as a martini fan, said she enjoyed the signature cocktail, which is made with Stoli strawberry vodka, Godiva white liqueur and strawberry puree.
“We were driving by and saw it and we were curious,” Larry said, adding that this was their first time at Strawberry Moon.
“It’s exciting to have something so close by,” Debi said. “We will be back.”
Merrie Farwick, server and Wauconda resident for more than 20 years, said having a variety of businesses in the area is exciting.
“You can see that local businesses are working together,” Farwick said. “We want people to feel at home and comfortable.”
A place to 'chill' in Lake Villa
Less than a half hour north is Lake Villa’s latest martini and wine bar, Chill Martini & Wine Bar, in the Nielsen Plaza off Route 83.
The words “unwind, relax, loosen up [and] mellow” are just some of the phrases that greet you upon entering the new bar.
The business was opened by Denise Just in February. Just grew up in Lindenhurst and now lives in Lake Villa.
Just said she saw that there was a need for a relaxed, yet upscale drink venue in her area.
“My friends and I are in the 40s to 50s age group and we’d always end up in some other town for a more upscale bar experience – to have nice drinks and conversation,” Just said about what inspired her to open Chill. “I feel like the idea came to us for a reason.”
Just saw an opportunity to bring the community together in the venue that previously housed a liquor store. Just’s addition of plush leather couches, exposed ceilings and transformation of the liquor cooler into a private room, along with other renovations, were inspired by what she saw in more urban establishments.
In the “cooler,” or private room, patrons can see out but others cannot see in. Just said the room has been reserved for birthday parties and even baby showers.
While Just admits hole-in-the-wall bars aren’t going out of style, bars like hers help to provide more local options.
“I like little holes in the wall,” Just said. “But this doesn’t feel like a bar. It’s more like a cool hang out.”
If you go:
Chill Martini and Wine Bar
216 N. Milwaukee Ave., in Lake Villa
224-643-7659
Strawberry Moon
204 S. Main St., in Wauconda
847-865-5151