Local residents, restaurants to celebrate Mother’s Day amid more relaxed COVID-19 guidelines this year

Mother’s Day is Sunday, and with restaurants now open for in-person dining after last year’s pandemic shutdown, more families will gather together to celebrate mom as vaccines are now widely available.

According to Phase 4 guidelines in the Restore Illinois plan, restaurants can accommodate groups of 10 people, but that can be increased if members of the party are vaccinated, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Nosh in Geneva is not accepting reservations, but is looking forward to welcoming guests on a first-come, first-served basis from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The restaurant will have limited outdoor seating on Sunday, but will feature a special Mother’s Day menu.

Like Nosh, downtown Geneva’s Stockholm’s is not accepting reservations but will be open for walk-ins at 11 a.m.

As of Wednesday afternoon, St. Charles Place Steakhouse had some reservations for smaller groups around noon. Gia Mia in St. Charles is accepting reservations for Mother’s Day, which features a special menu from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

While restaurants in the TriCities may be looking forward to a busy day, some residents prefer to enjoy a quiet day at home.

Batavia Township resident Ellen Nottke said her family has never made a big deal about going to a restaurant on Mother’s Day.

“It’s been a tradition with my two daughters and I that they would help me – come out and plant my flowers,” Nottke said. “I used to get $50 from each to buy impatiens. But we have gotten away from that because they are mothers as well. I have three grandsons.”

Because Nottke’s birthday is the day before, they are going to celebrate both Mother’s Day and her birthday on Saturday with a cookout – hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad and cole slaw.

“So on Sunday, they can all be with their families,” Nottke said. “We don’t do anything fancy – it’s a Hallmark holiday. Everyday is Mother’s Day – that’s what I used to tell my kids.”

Batavia 3rd Ward Alderman Dan Chanzit said his brother and sister-in-law made reservations at a new restaurant in Oswego, 113 Main Restaurant and Bar near where they live. His mother, stepfather, brother, sister-in-law and their three kids will all be there.

“Typically, my mom likes to go Downtown Chicago for dim sum or we take her to an Asian restaurant because she likes to explore and she likes sushi,” Chanzit said.

But during the 2020 year of the pandemic, they did not go out – not until this year for his 45th birthday in March, Chanzit said, when they went to Chama Gaúcha Brazilian Steakhouse in Lombard.

“We felt like were were testing the waters there,” Chanzit said. “We felt weird doing it, but we had not done anything for a year.”

Batavia resident Cynthia Kieckhefer said she prefers to celebrate at home with her family.

“I’ve got a daughter who can cook the pants off of anyone. And Robert (her husband) is good too. We’re just a family of cooks, a long line of cooks,” Kieckhefer said. “My favorite thing to do on Mother’s Day is to be allowed to be out in my garden tending it while my daughter and Bob cook dinner! And wouldn’t be caught dead out as well. So it all works for this green thumbed mom.”