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Business & Tech

Comings & Goings: RoccoVino's Opening This Week in Orland

Trackside OTB and Sam's Triple Play restaurant are now open in Orland Hills and planning party for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

is expected to open this week in the former Palermo’s location at 11255 W. 143rd St. in Orland Park.

General Manager Tony Gloria said the restaurant was going to have an invitation-only soft opening tonight and then open to the public later in the week.

“We should be ready by Friday,” he said.

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Gloria said the Orland location is the chain’s fourth stand-alone restaurant and the first in the Southland. The chain also operates 10 satellite locations in places such as park district concession stands, but none are in the area.

“We open a new restaurant every couple of years and this year we stumbled across this location,” he said. “One of our owners knows the owner of this shopping center from Easter Seals and he told us this spot was coming open and here we are.”

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Gloria said RoccoVino’s features upscale Italian in a casual atmosphere, and added the Orland location would offer a hybrid menu a little different from the other locations.

“We’ll have some creative pasta dishes, fresh seafood, veal and chops and all kinds of pizza, but with moderate pricing, especially for this area,” he said. “And our entire menu will be available for delivery.”

Gloria said the restaurant will be very involved in the community, as it is elsewhere.

“We work with area groups on hot lunch programs and offer special discounts for schools,” he said. “In fact, I’m catering the lunch for this year’s Orland Park Chamber golf outing.”

Gloria said in addition to dine-in, delivery, catering and carry-out, RoccoVino’s also has a small banquet room with seating for about 40.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

For information, call 708-460-5900 or visit their website or their Facebook page.

Orland Hills OTB Now Open

Though it’s hard to tell by looking at the plain white building with dark windows, with no signage on the property as of Friday, restaurant and Trackside OTB opened for business last week at 9201 W. 159th St. in Orland Hills.

“We expect to do very, very well,” said Gil Carmichael, director of Off-Track Operations at Arlington Park race track, which operates the Trackside OTB locations.

“So will Orland Hills,” he said. “As 1 percent of the gross revenues are returned to the village every year.”

Admission to Sam’s Triple Crown is free, but bettors will have to pay a $1 tax, Carmichael said.

“The tax was a parting gift from (former Cook County Board president) Todd Stroger before he left office,” Carmichael said. The tax is collected under a 1987 law that allows government bodies to impose a $1 tax on OTB parlors.

“Only Cook County and Chicago charge the tax,” he said, explaining why OTBs in Mokena and Lockport in Will County do not tax bettors.

village administrator John Daly said the village has no plan to impose such a tax.

Sam’s is expected to have a party under a tent and outside tote machines available for Saturday’s running of the Kentucky Derby.

Smokin’ in Orland Park

, a restaurant that features burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and similar fare, opened three weeks ago at 15020 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park.

Owned by Brian and Mary Yates, Smokehouse also will feature smoked chicken and ribs once some equipment issues have been fixed.

“I think we’ll have smoked chicken and ribs back on the menu by this week,” he said.

Hours for Smokehouse are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The eatery is closed on Sunday.

“I need a day off once in a while,” Yates said with a laugh.

He decided to open the restaurant after retiring from the Evergreen Park Police Department.

Why Orland Park?

“I kinda like it out here,” he said. “The area has a little bit of everything.”

For information, call 708-403-9500.

Dry Goods, Flip Flops Coming to Orland Park

Iowa-based Von Maur Inc. announced last week it will open a 4,500-square-foot Dry Goods specialty store at in the fall.

The Orland store will be the women’s specialty store chain’s third location in the Chicago area and only the seventh Dry Goods store as it builds the brand. The other Chicago-area stores are at Fox Valley and Woodfield malls.

Dry Goods offers the latest in contemporary women’s clothing and accessories and features products from brands such as Free People, Hudson, Jessica Simpson, Joe’s Jeans and Silver.  The store also offers an interest-free credit card for its customers.

The store will be located on the second level of the northwest wing and will feature the chain’s turn-of-the-century look.

Von Maur said the opening is part of its strategic growth plan for Dry Goods by selecting markets in which the 140-year-old company has yet to establish a presence.

"The success and volume of business at our current Chicagoland locations has been tremendous, leaving us confident that our newest location in Orland Park will yield similar results," said Jim von Maur, president of Von Maur, in a release. "With Orland Square Mall's prominent demographic of female shoppers, coupled with our exciting mix of contemporary fashion and quality service, Dry Goods will undoubtedly be well received by shoppers." 

Orland Square Mall also announced two more tenants last week. Flip Flop Shoes, which offers latest styles of flip flops and sandals, is expected to open this summer. Love Culture, a store that sells affordable women’s fashions and accessories, is expected to open in August. 

Bath & Body Works Moves

opens at 10 a.m. today in its new space (across the hall from its old location) at Orland Square Mall.  

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bob@chicago-patch.com.

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com.

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