Olde Keg retools in an effort to survive

The Olde Keg in Joliet, Ill., has been a fixture on old Route 66 even before the highway existed — since 1897, in fact.

So it alarmed longtime customers when a “closed” sign appeared on the restaurant/bar on Tuesday. But it’s just temporary, reports the Joliet Herald-News.

On Tuesday, the Keg temporarily closed for dinner service as Chiprez renovates the restaurant’s interior. He plans to add big-screen TVs, pub tables, a pool table, a juke box and possibly darts and bean bag competition areas to try to lure a younger crowd to the Keg.

The restaurant, located at the southeast corner of Ottawa and Jackson streets, remains open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and pick-up or take-out food is available, too, from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Chiprez said when he resumes serving dinner, the hours may shift to start and end earlier. Then the Keg would stay open later with a limited menu for a sports bar crowd. […]

To make ends meet, Chiprez had to lay off some long-time employees.

“I cried,” he said as he sat at a table in his restaurant Thursday morning. “You don’t want to have to do that.”

But with the price of food, Chiprez said he had no choice. A pound of cheese that used to cost $1.50 to $1.60 now costs $3. A sack of flour that used to cost $3.79 is $9. Sausage has increased from 75 cents a pound to $2. Also, the minimum wage and utility costs have both increased, Chiprez said.

Things are tough all over.

2 thoughts on “Olde Keg retools in an effort to survive

  1. It’s terrible – he can complain all he wants about the cost of cheeze, flour and sausage, but it doesn’t matter because he’s not using any of the same ingredients. The place has been ruined. Food is terrible, service is terrible, the atmosphere is gone. Good riddence to this new owner.

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