New indoor playground, with liquor license, set to open in McHenry Feb. 1

When the Treehouse Play Cafe opens in McHenry in February, parents will have the option of having a mimosa or other cocktail with their sandwiches while children play.

The McHenry City Council voted unanimously to approve a liquor license for the indoor playground and cafe

“We are not an environment where people go to consume alcohol,” said Mike Ferguson, who owns the business that also has a location in Lake Zurich with his wife, Alison.

The council in June approved a development deal that gives the Fergusons and Treehouse $185,000 in incentives to build out the space at 2328 N. Richmond Road. Located in the McHenry Towne Center Shopping Center, the space is a former Pier 1 location.

The incentive is part of 20-year, $1.5 million sales tax rebate deal made with property owner Advance Real Estate Management LLC in 2021 to help keep retail stores in the city.

“We are not an environment where people go to consume alcohol.”

—  Mike Ferguson, co-owner of Treehouse Play Cafe

The couple wrote in their application for a liquor license that “sometimes the last thing we want to do is spend [two] hours at a kids birthday party when you could be feet up, enjoying a drink and watching your favorite show. Thankfully, we provide that.”

Their Lake Zurich location offers hot or iced drinks as well as seasonal cocktails, beer, hard seltzers, hard cider, wine, Prosecco and mimosas.

The limited food menu includes sandwiches, salads and a children’s menu.

The establishment doesn’t put a cap on the number of drinks an adult can order, Ferguson said, but “it is loud kids yelling and screaming. Most folks don’t want to sit more than 60 or 120 minutes.”

Their private events, including birthday parties, last about two hours. Those events also can start as early as 9 a.m. and go to as late as 10 p.m. Those are the hours approved in the liquor license.

Fourth Ward Alderwoman Chris Bassi, who is running for mayor against incumbent Mayor Wayne Jett in the April 1 election, asked whether the time frame for alcohol service was too early and whether they would be willing to move it to noon.

Ferguson said no.

“We have birthday parties that start at 10 a.m. on the weekends or earlier if needed,” he said. Parents at those parties may want a mimosa in the morning.

“The first group of parties would miss out” with a ban on alcohol before noon, he said.

Second Ward Alderman Andy Glab said he initially was against mixing liquor with kids.

“Then, I think of my childhood of big family parties, and alcohol was always a part of it,” he said, noting “I didn’t become an alcoholic” because he saw adult family members having a drink.