Annie’s pancake house to open Ottawa location

Annie’s Restaurant and Pancake House will open its second Illinois Valley location in Ottawa later this year.

Annie’s opened at 1402 Peoria St., Peru, in August and its first location is at 154 W. Northwest Highway in Palatine.

Owner Annie Basa had no timeline as to when the Ottawa restaurant will open as the building is under renovations.

Basa said it will be similar to the Peru location, which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as nighttime entertainment such as karaoke.

The restaurant will open at 729 Chestnut St., which was the longtime home of Carretto’s Bar and Bowl that shuttered in the late 2000s. A six-lane bowling alley is in an adjacent part of the building, but Basa has no plans for it.

Built in 1896, the space began as a dance hall until 1925 when it was converted into a bowling alley. The Carretto family bought the business in 1966 and opened the restaurant until the family sold it in 2004.

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