Valley Lodge Tavern shuts its doors in St. Charles

ST. CHARLES – A St. Charles business with North Shore roots has closed its doors.

The last day of business for the St. Charles location of Valley Lodge Tavern was Sunday, owner Bill Stavrou confirmed in a message Wednesday.

A sign seen Thursday morning on the front door of the tavern, at 109 W. Main St. in St. Charles, stated that the lodge is closed and thanked patrons for their business.

The tavern began serving customers on April 14. It had some success in Kane County, but it started to drain staffing and operational resources from the other Valley Lodge Tavern locations in Glenview and Wilmette, Stavrou said.

“It just made sense to do this,” he said of leaving St. Charles.

The Tavern's St. Charles location previously was open as McNally's Traditional Irish Pub, which closed April 4 after more than 16 years in business. Tavern investors bought the McNally's site in 2014 and decided to test the strength of the Tavern brand by converting the pub into the Valley Lodge Tavern, Stavrou said.

The St. Charles tavern menu included fish, burgers, ribs, steaks, salads, beer, wine and more.

Stavrou said he has an ongoing business relationship with Maurice McNally, who has expressed interest in the 109 W. Main St. location.

Because of ongoing discussions, McNally said he could not yet talk in detail about the future of the site.