A barbecue restaurant should open in downtown Mundelein this summer after a million-dollar building renovation is completed.
Smokin’ Jack’s BBQ, 32 E. Park St., will be the latest offering from restaurateur Jack Bowes. Bowes and his family own Emil’s Sports Bar & Pizzeria, 604 N. Lake St., and the Crossroads of Ivanhoe restaurant, 20915 Park Ave., as well as restaurants outside the village.
An August opening is expected, Village Administrator Eric Guenther said.
Bowes purchased the building for $607,000 and then spent about $1.2 million renovating it, village documents indicate.
Bowes proposed calling the restaurant Smoke House Bar & Grill when he publicly unveiled plans in February 2024. That August, Bowes inked a $400,000 financial incentive agreement with the village board that calls for his company to be reimbursed $200,000 to offset renovation costs and to receive up to $200,000 of the sales tax and gambling revenue generated by the restaurant from the village over time.
On Monday, the village board voted to pay Bowes’ company the $200,000 reimbursement it’s owed as part of that deal. Payments were approved as part of the board’s omnibus agenda, which is reserved for routine matters.
Additional payments will come once Smokin’ Jack’s BBQ begins serving customers.
Earlier in the meeting, the board voted 4-2 to give the restaurant a liquor license. Trustees Kara Lambert and Erich Schwenk opposed the license, with Lambert objecting to the planned installation of video gambling machines.
Smokin’ Jack’s BBQ, at 32 E. Park St. in Mundelein, should open this summer, officials said.
Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
Smokin’ Jack’s will occupy most of the northwest corner of Park Street and Seymour Avenue. The building was home to Abernathy’s Department Store for decades until it closed in 2007.
Corner Health Foods operates in a separate part of the building and will remain.
Original plans called for the restaurant to face Seymour Avenue, but now the front door will be on Park Street. That fits with Mundelein’s al fresco dining attraction on Park Street.
A section of Park Street that closes to auto traffic each spring so restaurant patrons can dine and drink at tables set up on the roadway during warmer months. The outdoor dining area has become a popular attraction and has led to other positive changes, including the creation of a small park on the block and the addition of a colorful, village-themed mural.
Bowes and his team will be allowed to shut down a portion of Park Street near Smokin’ Jack’s for outdoor dining, Guenther said.
“It’s really exciting,” Guenther said of the restaurant’s imminent opening. “It’s a real nice indicator of the fact that that area is starting to take hold.”
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