New Restaurant Opening In Plainfield Despite Coronavirus Concerns
PLAINFIELD, IL — A new restaurant is opening in Plainfield this week, despite the coronavirus crisis. It's called Chop'd, located at 12337 S. Route 59, and it's a sister restaurant to local American fare eatery Craft'd - located at 16031 South Lincoln Highway. Barry Michael, co-owner of both restaurants, said he knew it was an interesting time to open a restaurant, to say the least.
"We didn't choose this, Mother Nature chose to do this to us," Michael said. "We had a timeline set up."
That timeline, decided on some months ago, was set to coincide with the second anniversary of Craft'd. As of Tuesday April 7, Michael said Craft'd had been open since "two years ago to the day." Now, with the coronavirus crisis forcing restaurants to close their dining rooms, Michael said he and his partner had decided to push forward with the opening of Chop'd regardless.
Michael said he hoped the restaurant to be open for carry-out orders sometime on Tuesday evening or failing that, by Wednesday. The eatery still needs a few final inspections from the village, he said, following which employees can begin prep work.
"We've gone back and forth, and we've had a lot of success at [Craft'd] with safety procedures and how we're keeping everything sanitized... so at this current location, at Chop'd, we're ready to go," Michael said.
Initially, Michael said Chop'd would operate with a limited menu. Much of the staff working there - about ten people - are new hires, he said, and they needed time to familiarize themselves with the menu, restaurant computer system and other procedures. That menu will feature items similar yet distinct from what's at Craft'd, Michael said, describing Chop'd as "Craft'd on steroids."
"We put a lot of focus on the food aspect; we knew we could open a bar and get people coming in and drinking... but we wanted to do unique and different stuff," Michael said. "I think that's what we're accomplishing. Even up to this morning we were still tweaking some menu items."
Michael said he was particularly fond of a tuna poke nachos plate that was planned for the new menu, but also said that due to the increased emphasis on food at Chop'd, it would likely have a less extensive cocktail list than Craft'd.
Alcohol sales in general are still something of a grey area for Craft'd, and Michael said they may hold off on selling cocktails-to-go for a while.
"You can do beer to go, you put it in a growler and seal the growler and you're fine," Michael said. "But as far as mixed cocktails we don't have a definite answer and that's something we're looking into... We don't want to piss off any of the villages or the Liquor Commission, so we're going to do some due diligence before making a decision."
Despite these troubles - and those related to opening a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic - Michael said he was excited to see the restaurant launch and serve its first customers. Unlike Craft'd, which is open between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., Michael said Chop'd will likely start only open for dinner.
"It'll probably just be 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.," Michael said.
To learn more about Chop'd and their new menu, visit the new restaurant's Facebook page or give the staff a call at (815) 782-8599.
This article originally appeared on the Plainfield Patch
