January 10, 2025
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The Scene

New restaurants expected to open in Kane County in 2025

By Aimee Barrows
Squire Ale House in Wasco.

Squire Ale House in Wasco. (Sandy Bressner)

Get ready to embark on exciting new culinary adventures. Several new restaurants are set to open their doors in Kane County throughout 2025, bringing a diverse range of flavors and dining experiences to the region.

Squire Ale House – Campton Hills

Squire Ale House on Route 64 in Campton Hills is expected to open in early 2025. The restaurant is owned by the Karas Restaurant Group, which also owns 15 popular restaurants in the Fox Valley area, including Rookies, Alexander’s Cafe and The Village Squire locations.

“It’s an offshoot of The Village Squire brand, but the Squire Ale House is a tavern,” owner Bob Karas said. “We’ll brew our own exclusive beers offsite, and have some custom beers, the standard beers, as well as our famous Mai Tais. We want to connect [the ale house] to the Squire brand, it’s the same family, but a different concept.

“[The Squire Ale House] will have burgers, sandwiches, ribs. It won’t be the whole Squire menu, because we want it to be different,” Karas said. “We’re not 100% done with the menu, but it will be family-friendly. People can enjoy a high-end dinner or a more casual meal.”

Vicolo – Aurora

The owners of The Graceful Ordinary in downtown St. Charles are expected to open their second location, Vicolo, in downtown Aurora. The new Italian-inspired cafe will be located in a former art studio at 7 S. Broadway.

The building at 7 S. Broadway in downtown Aurora that will house Vicolo was most recently an art gallery, but has served as a stable, cigar shop and shoe store over the years.

The building at 7 S. Broadway in downtown Aurora that will house Vicolo was most recently an art gallery, but has served as a stable, cigar shop and shoe store over the years. (Rick West)

Megan and Chris Curren plan to preserve the building’s original wood floors, tin ceiling, exposed brick, old plaster and add elements like stained glass that reflect the building’s history. During the daytime hours, Vicolo will serve freshly made pasta, coffee and gelato for carryout.

In the evening, the eatery will transform into a high-end restaurant with a curated craft cocktail menu that complements the locally sourced, chef-driven dinner offerings, including wood-fired pizza. The back of the restaurant will also be home to an intimate cocktail lounge.

HoneyBird – Geneva

The owners of Geneva’s Riganato, Nick and Jim Nicolaou, will open HoneyBird in an 1877 building at 427 E. State St., Geneva, which was formerly used as office space. The space will undergo significant renovation before the dine-in and carryout chicken restaurant opens in the spring or summer.

The owners of 427 E. State St. in Geneva have plans to use a $38,608 to convert the building into a restaurant specializing in chicken named HoneyBird.

The owners of 427 E. State St. in Geneva have plans to use a $38,608 to convert the building into a restaurant specializing in chicken named HoneyBird. (Sandy Bressner)

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Aimee Barrows

Aimee Barrows

Aimee Barrows is the editor of The Scene, Shaw Local News Network's entertainment section. The Scene is your go-to destination for all things fun in Northern Illinois. Prior to The Scene, Aimee was the editor of the Kane County Chronicle for five years, and a freelance reporter for Shaw Media for four years.