McHenry’s Hickory Pit closes, with new Kojak’s eatery replacing barbecue joint

Hickory Pit, a McHenry barbecue joint beloved by many, closed last weekend after a nine-year run at 3102 W. Route 120, but the standalone building that housed it will be occupied by another restaurant tenant and open to hungry diners again in as soon as a few weeks.

Kojak’s, which has been stuffing empty stomachs with gyros, kabobs, burgers, hot dogs and more for over 30 years in Cary, is moving into the former Hickory Pit space with plans to start serving meals next month, owner Carrie Schuppe said.

Hickory Pit’s Facebook page reported that the restaurant sold out of food around 5 p.m. Saturday as patrons flocked to get one last taste of the sandwiches, meat platters, ribs, chicken and burgers that were a mainstay of McHenry’s food scene.

“Over the last nine years we enjoyed seeing your smiles, creating relationships, feeding you all and being a part of this great community,” Hickory Pit wrote on social media, adding that it was closing “with much dismay.”

An owner of Hickory Pit declined to be interviewed. Its Facebook page said there are no future plans for the restaurant, but added that “if any concrete plans ever tend to arise we will give all our fans a heads up.”

For Kojak’s, the expansion into McHenry achieves a goal Schuppe and her husband, Craig, have had since they took over the Cary restaurant eight years ago.

The local establishment moved to a larger space within Cary, more than doubling its seating capacity in 2017, and the couple has kept adding a second location in the back of their minds since they started running the business, Carrie Schuppe said.

She added they feel lucky to be able to expand after the COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on many other dining and drinking spots.

“We feel very fortunate,” Carrie Schuppe said. “Our Cary restaurant had a heavy delivery and pickup service, so when COVID-19 happened and the shutdown occurred, we just increased our revenue through delivery and pickup. We have our own delivery drivers. We still use GrubHub. But the vast majority is our own delivery drivers and we’ll do the same in McHenry.”

She expects the dine-in business to be busy, too, as seating is in high demand at the Cary restaurants on Friday nights.

She added her son, Joshua Schuppe, who is about to graduate from Florida State University, is also coming on board to help run the Kojak’s business. The family hopes to keep adding locations in the northwest suburbs, although a third store opening is not imminent, Carrie Schuppe said.

“We’re always looking for opportunities,” she said.

The new McHenry restaurant will do bottled beer and wine sales, and Kojak’s also requested and was approved by the McHenry City Council to have four video gaming terminals, up from the three Hickory Pit had on the property.