Yorkville’s newest restaurant, Craft’d, attracts big crowd on opening day

YORKVILLE – With generous portions of good food, attentive service and a family atmosphere, Craft’d is the newest entry to Yorkville’s burgeoning dining scene.

The new restaurant at 2075 Marketview Drive attracted a big crowd on its opening day Dec. 27.

The food and the location will be familiar to many Yorkville-area diners.

The enterprise is the second Craft’d location from Major Threat Restaurant Group, which operates three eateries in Plainfield, including Chop’d, Khaos Brewcade & Kitchen and the first Craft’d.

The new location at the southeast corner of Route 47 and Kennedy Road was previously occupied by the Millhurst Ale House, which closed in July of 2021.

Major Threat owners Corey Knowles of Montgomery and Barry Michael of Oswego bought the building and renovated the structure, opening up the interior floor space to create two large dining areas and bring in more natural light.

“Yorkville was always on our radar,” Knowles said.

The restaurant has 40 tables with seating for 200 patrons, plus room for another 20 on the outdoor patio, Knowles said.

The menu features classic American fare with burgers, wings, sandwiches and salads.

“We smoke our own meats and have fresh bread shipped in daily,” Knowles said.

Menu favorites include a ‘bigger than your head” Bavarian smokehouse pretzel, a two-foot-long Philly cheese steak and a wide selection of appetizers.

Entrees include smoked meatloaf, orange salmon and bourbon chicken.

The bar offers a large selection of beers on tap, along with finely crafted cocktails.

General manager Randy Schobert of Plainfield has been working in the restaurant business virtually from the time he graduated from Yorkville High School in 1994 and has already been running the Plainfield Craft’d.

“We want to make this a completely family-friendly experience,” Schobert said.

Some of the restaurant’s 50 employees are members of the Yorkville High School football and girls volleyball teams.

“They’re all motivated to make money for college,” Schobert said, grinning.

A space in the restaurant called The Ale Room, a holdover from the Millhurst days, has been left unfinished and unused.

Schobert said the plan is to eventually expand the space to create a party room for 40 or 50 guests.

Knowles said working with the city of Yorkville during the building renovations was a smooth process.

“They let us focus on business and made things easy,” Knowles said. “We really felt welcome here.”

Craft’d is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven-days-a-week.