1913 Restaurant and Wine Bar - Roselle, IL

123 E. Main Street, Roselle, IL 60172

http://1913roselle.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1913roselle

Roselle, Illinois is a village in the western suburbs of Chicago. With a population of more than 22,000, residents generally commute from this bedroom community for work. When it comes to dining, there are not many restaurants in the village that offer “city quality food,” as Jessi Thorne notes.

Her father, Ron Thorne, is the owner. He left his manufacturing career in 2013 to pursue the restaurant business. He loves wine and did a lot of research before settling on an Italian and French concept.

The restaurant gets its numerical name from the building that houses it. Rich with history since being constructed in 1913, the space originally opened as Kee & Chapell Dairy Company and then later housed retail stores, a pharmacy and restaurant as the times changed and the property changed hands.

In 2013, Thorne took on the project of completely renovating the 100-year-old space. He ripped up six layers of flooring before reaching the original hardwood floors. The exposed brick walls still remain as part of the decor and add a historical ambiance. Six months later, he opened his doors to business on New Year’s Day 2014.

The family-friendly restaurant features an extensive selection of small plates as well as pastas and pizzas. Seafood dishes such as mussels and escargot are also quite popular. The restaurant touts its extensive wine and beer list to be “unlike anything found in the Chicago suburbs.” There are more than 100 French and Italian wines served by the glass or bottle. Additionally, there is a rotating menu of more than 45 craft beers. Customers can also take advantage of the full bar to order cocktails such as the 1913 Old Fashioned or The Frenchie, which is a mix of Beefeater gin, St. Germain, grapefruit and sparkling wine.

While daily dining is the mainstay of 1913 Restaurant and Wine Bar, Thorne welcomes a good share of events such as wedding showers, graduation parties and group dining. He also hosts special public dining events such as a beer or wine dinners. For the latter event, he teams with Lynfred Winery, located less than a mile away from the restaurant. The late Fred E. Koehler, Lynfred Winery founder,  was considered the father of the Illinois wine industry.

With such an “upscale menu in a casual setting,” Jessi Thorne says there is a good group of regulars because the extensive menu offers so many dining options. And it’s not just the adults coming back again and again. “There are kids who drag their parents here because they like it so much,” she says.