Italian restaurant coming to Evergreen Park

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

A new Italian restaurant called Cavatappi, which means corkscrew in Italian, is opening soon in the former Mulchrone’s at 3020 W. 95th St. in Evergreen Park.

Co-owner Bill Mulchrone says Cavatappi is going to be a brick-oven pizza parlor and wine bar with other Italian dishes on the menu as well.

“We hope to open in the next couple of weeks,” says Mulchrone, who is part of the family that owned that owned the establishment in its former incarnation.

Mulchrone’s partner is Potito Conza, a chef from Torino in northern Italy.

“Our cuisine will be authentic Italian with a Torino flair,” says Mulchrone. “We’ll have Italian dishes ranging from $9 to $15.”

Mulchrone says Cavatappi will feature a wine bar with a decidedly Italian flavor. “I’d say about 85 percent of the wines will be Italian.”

The restaurant will take up the front of the building and have seating for 78 with room for another 18 at the bar. “We’re going to have parties in the back.”

Hours are going to be 4 to 10 p.m. weekdays and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends.

For more information, call the restaurant at 708-576-3055. A web site is under construction and will be online soon.

Evergreen Park Mayor Jim Sexton says he’s excited an Italian restaurant is moving into the formerly vacant site.

Sexton also says he is on the hunt for a sit-down Mexican restaurant for Evergreen Park. “If there are any out there looking for a location in town, give me a call.”

Blockbuster closing in MokenaThe Blockbuster video rental store at 11230 W. Lincoln Highway in Mokena is closing. Its last day will be no later than Aug. 22. The store is selling most of its DVDs for $7.99 and Blu-ray videos are going for 10 percent off the marked price.

Pandora coming to Orland Square
A Pandora jewelry store is coming soon to Orland Square Mall in Orland Park. The company is now hiring employees for the new store. For more information, visit its website at http://www.pandora.net/.

Forman Mills opening in LansingA Forman Mills discount clothing store is opening at 8 a.m. Friday in the former Toys R Us store inside The Landings shopping center at 171st Street and Torrence Avenue in Lansing. It will be the first Illinois store for the 29-store chain that sells designer clothes at discount prices in a warehouse-style setting. The company says it hopes to open more stores in the Chicago-area. For more information, visit its website at http://www.foremanmills.com/.

Meet Your Hero Tour
White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is coming to the FansEdge store at Orland Square Mall on Aug. 23 as part of the company’s Meet Your Hero Tour, which has Chicago sports legends appearing at different stores in different malls. Pierzynski is scheduled to appear from 6:30 to 8 p.m. For more information and to reserve tickets, call 708-873-1250.

Online deal of the weekOnline shoppers can save 10 percent at http://www.fansedge.com/ by using this code when checking out: FBMIDSUM. The code is good through Aug. 1.

Sox, Bulls chairman Reinsdorf to headline Southland Chamber luncheon

Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the White Sox and the Bulls, will headline the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce Regional Consensus Luncheon at the Tinley Park Convention Center on Aug. 9. The event, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., is open to the public. Chamber officials expect a large turnout.

“There’s not another Chicago sports owner like Reinsdorf, and it will be interesting to hear how he made big decisions and brought such success to Chicago teams,” Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Maureen Kelly said.

Reservations for the luncheon are $25 for Chamber members and $35 for non-members. They can be made by calling (708) 957-6950 or by visiting www.ChicagoSouthland.com.

The Tinley Park Convention Center is located at 18501 Harlem Ave. (entrance off 183rd Street only).

Bridgeview driver's license office to be closed during move

By Southland Savvy

The Secretary of State driver's facility at 7200 W. 84th St. in Bridgeview will close Thursday and Friday while it moves to a larger location.

The new office will open Monday three blocks away at 7350 W. 87th St. in Bridgeview. The new office is larger and will offer more parking. Hours will remain the same, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

During the two days the office is closed, motorists can visit driver's facilities in Midlothian, 14434 Pulaski Road, and on Chicago's South Side, 9901 King Drive. An express office is at Orland Park Village Hall, 14700 Ravinia Ave.

A phone freeze in a hot summer

By David Kolata
Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board

The best calling plans in the Land of Lincoln just got better thanks to consumer advocates in Springfield — and that could save AT&T customers nearly $200 a year.

During the recent rewrite of Illinois’ Telecommunications Act, phone-industry lobbyists pushed for the eventual elimination of AT&T’s low-cost Consumer’s Choice plans, which were created by the Citizens Utility Board under a legal settlement back in 2006. But CUB, the Attorney General’s Office and AARP-Illinois fought to save the plans and freeze their low prices through at least June of 2013, when lawmakers revisit the act.

As we hold phone clinics across Illinois, one thing is certain: A lot of people are chained to bloated calling plans. In fact, a CUB study last year estimated that Illinois consumers were overpaying by more than $1 billion a year on their local, long-distance and cell-phone service.

AT&T customers could cut those costs roughly in half, the study found, by switching to AT&T’s standard pay-per-call rates or the Consumer’s Choice plans for local calls (to places within about 15 miles from home). CUB designed those plans to fit the needs of the average caller.

• Consumer’s Choice Basic, ranging from $3.05 a month in downtown Chicago to $9.50 per month in the rest of Illinois, includes AT&T’s Line Charge and 30 local phone calls. Local calls beyond the first 30 are billed at 6 cents per call.
• Consumer’s Choice Extra costs $9 to $15 per month and includes unlimited local calls. It’s best for someone who doesn’t want extra features, but makes roughly 100 local calls or more per month.
• Consumer’s Choice Plus, costing $16 to $19.70 per month, is popular because it includes two calling features, such as Caller ID or Voice Mail, along with unlimited local calls.

So what plan’s best for you? Call CUB at 1-800-669-5556, for a free phone-bill analysis. Or, visit the online Phone Savings Center, at http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/. There, AT&T customers can use the Local Phone Cost-cutter to find out the best local option based on their calling habits. The online tool has shown 40,000 customers how to save a total of $7.8 million a year, or $194 per customer.

The Phone Savings Center also has the details on extremely low long-distance rates, sweetened with an automatic $10 credit. Of course, a lot of people don’t have landlines. That’s why the center features the CUB Cellphone Saver, which has shown people how to cut costs by $300 a year on up.

There are few household costs that are as easy to cut as your phone bill, and that’s good news in any economy. So, pick up your phone bill and call CUB.

Entree Ale House now open in Frankfort

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Ryan Tosh is looking forward to a long run as owner of the Entrée Ale House and Eatery at 695 N. LaGrange Road in Frankfort.

Tosh, 30, who owned Scott Patrick’s Grill and two breakfast restaurants in Crete, opened Entrée on June 24 in the former Kosta’s restaurant. Before that, the building was longtime home to Mary Todd’s Café.

“At first, I was looking to open a new place in Indiana, but nothing caught my eye,” Tosh says. “So, I looked west instead. Found Kosta’s was available and fell in love with the place and bought it.”

Tosh says Entrée is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and features American family dining. The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with the bar staying open until 1 a.m.

Sunday hours at present are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the bar closing at 11 p.m. “We may tweak the Sunday hours,” says Tosh.

The patio is open but Tosh hopes to redevelop it in late summer or early fall.

Entrée also has a room suitable for banquets and private parties. “I’ve booked quite a few parties already,” he says.

Tosh has plans for live bands, karaoke, comedy shows and open mic nights. “We just had a band last week and I plan to bring in Brasago, which was the house band when I owned Scott Patrick’s.”

Also coming are daily breakfast specials and Friday night fish frys. “We’re going to do cod and lake perch with my special breading.”

Tosh says he has carryouts and will deliver catering jobs.

For more information, call Entrée at 815-469-9922 or fax to 815-469-0599.

A website is under construction and will be up soon at http://www.entreefrankfort.com/.

Coming soon
A Spirit Halloween store is set to open in the next month at Westfield Chicago Ridge Mall in Chicago Ridge.

A CVS pharmacy is under construction at College Drive and Southwest Highway in Palos Heights.

Stanley Cup deal
Blackhawks No. 36 Dave Bolland will be signing copies of the 2010 Stanley Cup DVD at the new Meijer store at 15701 S. 71st Court in Orland Park from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

South Holland Motors wins back Dodge franchise in arbitration

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

South Holland Motors won its arbitration against Chrysler last week and will be reinstated as a Dodge dealership.

The dealership, which was founded in 1984 as South Holland Dodge, was forced to change its name when Chrysler stripped the dealership of its Dodge franchise as part of a massive reorganization last year when the automaker told hundreds of dealerships they would lose their Dodge and Chrysler franchises.

“We thought we would win,” says owner Pat Fitzgibbon. “We wanted it back; it shouldn’t have been taken away in the first place.”

Fitzgibbon said he believes he is the first Dodge dealer in the Chicago area to win its arbitration case.

Fitzgibbon said new Dodge models will start showing up on the lot at 113 W. 159th St. in the coming weeks.

Besides winning back its Dodge franchise, South Holland Motors has also added Mitsubishi to its product line.

“We started selling the full line of Mitsubishi products on July 1,” says Fitzgibbon. “We are a full serve Mitsubishi dealership. We have sales, service, parts and a collision center.”

For more information, call 708-333-1060 or visit their website at http://www.southhollandmotors.com/.

Cork and Kerry at the Park
Missed getting this out sooner, but the Cork and Kerry at the Park opened last month at 33rd Street and Princeton Avenue in the former Jimbo's. It's the second location for the longtime Beverly/Mount Greenwood watering hole at 106th Street and Western Avenue. For more information, visit their website at http://www.corkandkerrychicago.com/.
 
Easy Go scoots to Blue Island
Easy Go Motor Scooters made the trek from Chicago's North Side to Blue Island recently and opened a shop at 12832 S. Western Ave. The store is a TN'G dealer, which sells 50cc and 150cc scooters made in China. The store will also service most Asian-brand motor scooters. For more information, call 708-371-5300 or visit their website at http://www.easygoscooters.com/.
 
Deal of the week
IHOP will give you three free meals just by going to Facebook, entering Pancake Revolution and following the links. Anyone who signs up will get a free meal for signing up, another one on their birthday and a third on the first anniversary of their signing up.

Senese's Winery closes in Oak Lawn

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Senese’s Winery, an Oak Lawn restaurant since 1973, and its Barrel of Laughs comedy club, which has been serving up laughs since 1977, closed last week. The phone number has been disconnected and the web site has no listings for acts past July 3.

I’m not sure what prompted the decision, but the reader who tipped me to the closing said he heard one of the owners wanted to retire.


Handbag store closing

It’s Not There Bag is holding a store closing sale at 12707 S. Ridgeland Ave. in Palos Heights. The store will remain open until its inventory is sold. The store carries replicas of designer handbags. The phone number is 708-388-0544.

Midwest Eye Center moves

Midwest Eye Center moved recently from Tinley Park into new digs on the upper floor at 19070 S. Everett Blvd. in Mokena. Midwest is one of the first businesses to move into the complex, which has languished with empty storefronts for years.

Qwest Diagnostics also recently moved into the complex.

Caged In reopens
The ultimate fighting store Caged In reopened Saturday at its new digs at 14478 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park. The store closed several weeks ago at its Tinley Park location. The phone number is 708-444-1703. Its web site is still http://www.cagedin.com/ and it has a Facebook fan page.

Concert deal of the week
Indie rock band Made Avail is playing at 8 p.m. Friday at the Apple Store inside Orland Square Mall. The band promises a full-blown concert.

At Palos Flowers and Gift Baskets, business is a family affair

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

It’s a family affair at Palos Flowers and Gift Baskets at 6511 ½ W. 127th St. in Palos Heights, which opened back in early May.

Co-owner Tina Smith has worked in the flower business for 26 years. Her husband, Brian Smith, has been doing it only since the shop opened in the former location of Heights Heritage Flowers, which closed last summer. Before that, he was a driver for the BP refinery in Whiting for 31 years.

Add in some children and in-laws and you have a family business extraordinaire.

“My wife has been arranging flowers for 26 years and we decided Palos Heights needed a local flower shop after Heights Heritage closed,” says Brian Smith explaining why he opened a flower shop after working for BP for three decades.

Smith says response has been great since they opened. “We have between 10 and 16 deliveries per day,” he says.

The store sells floral arrangements, invitations and gift baskets.

Top sellers, Smith says, are a vase arrangement called Fields of Europe and a birthday cake made out of flowers. His personal favorite (which he is pictured holding) is an arrangement that looks like an Appletini.
Palos Flowers hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information, call 708-923-1344 or visit their web site at http://www.palosflowersandgiftbaskets.com/.

K.T. Mae’s looks closedK.T. Mae’s, a sports bar at 20535 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort, appears to be closed.
Owners of nearby businesses in the Vineyards of Frankfort Plaza say K.T. Mae’s shut its doors last week, and a local chamber official also told me the tavern was closed.

The business, which lists its opening time as 11 a.m., was dark and not open when visited in the late afternoon this week and its phone went unanswered.

The tavern’s web site, which was operational earlier this year, now says it is under construction. A spokeswoman for the Vineyards said K.T. Mae’s still has a live lease and is not closed.
Meijer to open next week

Michigan-based Meijer is expected to open its new Orland Park store at 7 a.m. Tuesday at 15701 S. 71st Court (the old Value City department store). The new store at 115,000 square feet is one of two smaller prototypes the chain is trying out in the Chicago market. Meijer will have a drive-through pharmacy, food, general merchandise and seasonal merchandise.

TJ Grinders closes
TJ Grinders, a sandwich shop that became an unwitting participant in a crime drama two years ago, closed recently at 12250 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights. The 17-year-old girl said she was kidnapped after closing the store. She later admitted to making up the story.

Watch World Cup for free
Soccer fans can watch the 2010 World Cup championship game between Spain and the Netherlands for free at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Holiday Star Theater, 340 Main St. in Park Forest. Seats are first come for 100 people. To make reservations, call the theater at 708-283-9098.

State Treasurer candidates to square off at chamber luncheon in Tinley Park

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy

State Treasurer hopefuls Democrat Robin Kelly and Republican Dan Rutherford will appear at a candidates forum in Tinley Park on Monday sponsored by the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce.

Kelly, a former state representative from Matteson, is chief of staff for Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who is seeking President Obama’s former Senate seat.

Rutherford is a state Senator from Pontiac.

The forum will take place during the chamber’s regional consensus luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Tinley Park Holiday Inn and Convention Center, 18501 S. Harlem Ave.

Reservations are $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. For more information, call 708-956-6950 or visit http://www.chicagosouthland.com/.

Gino's East pizzeria closes in Orland Park

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

The economy has claimed another longtime Orland Park business with the recent closing of Gino’s East at 15840 S. Harlem Ave.

The restaurant has been struggling for some time and had cut back its hours in recent years.

Gino’s East said it will honor gift certificates and coupons issued by the Orland store at its other locations. The nearest Gino’s East eateries are in Naperville and Highland, Ind. For a complete list of open locations, visit http://www.ginoseast.com/

Just A Pizza closesAnother pizzeria that couldn’t make a go in this economy is Just A Pizza, 7108 W. 183rd St. in Tinley Park, which closed recently after being open just about six months.

Mokena ribbon cuttingsTwo new businesses in Mokena will be having ribbon-cutting ceremonies in the next week.

Tiger Kwon’s Martial Arts will hold its ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday at 19813 S. LaGrange Road in Mokena, which is the second location for Tiger Kwon’s. There also is a dojo in New Lenox. For more information, visit http://www.tigerkwonkicks.com/.

Unwind Massage Therapy will do the honors at 5 p.m. next Thursday at 19054 Henry Drive in Mokena. For more information, visit http://www.unwindmylife.com/.

Both new businesses also have Facebook pages.

Simply Smokin’
The restaurant, which has been under renovation for months at 10211 W. Lincoln Highway in Frankfort, finally has a name. The former pancake house and Mexican restaurant is expected to open soon as Simply Smokin’ BBQ and Grill.

Now open
Six Essentials Integrative Health, a nontraditional health services office, opened recently at 11267 W. 159th St. in Orland Park. For more information, visit http://www.sixessentialshealth.com/.

Landmark Flooring, a flooring contractor, opened recently at 9501 W. 171st St. in Tinley Park. Phone number is 708-349-0011 or visit http://www.landmarkflooring.net/.

South Holland adds the blues to this year's Fourth of July celebration

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

South Holland has added its first ever blues concert to its 77th annual Independence Day celebration at Veterans Memorial Park this year.

Jamiah on Fire (pictured), a trio consisting of three boys ranging in age from 8 to 13, will take the stage at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the park at 160th Place and South Park Avenue with its Tribute to Jimi Hendrix.

“They are small boys with a big sound,” says promoter Cal Spencer, who urged the village to add a blues concert to the agenda this year. “The drummer is only 11 and he’s so small you can’t see him sitting behind the drums.”

Jamiah will be followed at 5:30 p.m. by Jimme J and the Hard Drive Blues Band, who Spencer calls the King of Indiana Blues.

“Both groups have tremendous followings and fans are sure to pack the park,” says Spencer.

The celebration kicks off Sunday with an outdoor worship service at 6 p.m. at Veterans Park presented by the South Holland Ministerial Association.

A full day of events at the park begins at 7 a.m. Monday with check-in for the Rib Fest Cook-Off, which begins at 7:30 a.m. at Veterans Park. Judging will take place at 11:45 a.m.

Prayer at the Gates starts at 8 a.m. with prayer services being held at all entrances to the village.

Other events include a farmer’s market starting at 10 a.m., a softball game at 1:30 p.m. between village employees and the ministerial association and a giant water balloon fight at 2:30 p.m.

The South Holland Municipal Band will play a selection of patriotic songs leading up to the fireworks show at 9:10 p.m.

Food from Home Plate Grill including burgers, hot dogs, pizza, ice cream and soft drinks will be available from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

For more information and a complete list of events and times, visit http://www.southholland.org/ and click on the community events tab.
Here's a video of Jamiah On Fire at Paris Delane's show, March 7, 2009 at The Morse Theater, Chicago.