Downtown Palatine Between Anchors: Durty Nellie's Last Call, a Rebuilt Slade Street, and the Wait for Big Grove

The last day at Durty Nellie's looked a lot like any other fall Sunday. Football was on the TVs, people sat around the bar, and at one point the room started chanting "Betty, Betty" for bartender Betty West. The Daily Herald covered that final afternoon. One regular told the paper that on Friday and Saturday nights the upstairs "was like spring break."

Six days later, the village threw a block party on Slade Street to celebrate a downtown it had just spent the summer rebuilding. For decades its evenings revolved around one big late-night room. The village is now betting on a walkable street of patios and restaurants instead. The replacement on the old Durty Nellie's site is designed the same way: earlier hours, a big outdoor space, and room for families. This fall and winter is the stretch when that street has to carry downtown's evenings without its old anchor.

Fifty-Four Years, Two Addresses

Durty Nellie's opened in 1972 at 55 N. Bothwell St. and moved to its final address at 180 N. Smith St. in 2003. A longtime customer told the Daily Herald that two commercial airline pilots founded it and named it after a centuries-old pub in Ireland. In 1988 they sold it to Jim and Mark Dolezal.

Jim Dolezal told the paper the pub was "the heart of this community." He listed what it had hosted: "fundraisers, reunions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, celebrations of life, bands, St. Patty's Day, and the list goes on." Patrons at the farewell remembered seeing Gaelic Storm on its stage and bringing their kids to Irish step-dancing lessons in the basement. Village council member Greg Langer wrote on Facebook that when people learn he's from Palatine, he often hears, "I saw (insert band) at Durty Nellie's."

People across the northwest suburbs knew Durty Nellie's by name, and downtown Palatine now has to replace that pull.

Six Days Later, a Party on Slade Street

On Saturday, Oct. 10, the village held a Grand Re-Opening from 3 to 9 p.m. in the Firefighters Memorial parking lot at Slade and Brockway streets. Village Manager Reid Ottesen told the Daily Herald that the project used about $4 million in tax increment financing. "We've totally redone Slade Street from Plum Grove (Road) all the way over to Towne Square Park," he said. The work also replaced storm sewers and the lead service lines connected to buildings. The village expanded downtown parking through an agreement with the owner of the BMO building.

Mayor Jim Schwantz named what the village was after: overhead lighting, bumpouts, and outdoor seating for some establishments. "We wanted to create some excitement, create some aesthetics down there," he said. Between Bothwell and Brockway, the rebuild also reconfigured parking, added space for outdoor cafés and more landscaping, rebuilt the brick sidewalks, and installed fiber optic lines.

The party showed how the street is supposed to work. Goldmember Band, Billy Elton, and Old School played sets. Guests could carry drinks into the event area from five downtown spots: JL's Pizza & Sports Bar, Schnell's Brauhaus, TJ O'Brien's Bar & Grill, Madcats, and Pizza Bella. The Daily Herald's recap said people filled the new Slade Street patio under café lights, and that the event met its goal of promoting downtown as a dining destination. One resident told the paper, "It's nice to have a hometown that is such a hometown that they throw a party when construction is finished."

Who Carries the Evenings Now

With Durty Nellie's closed, the most dependable live-music calendar downtown belongs to Madcats. The restaurant, bar, and music venue bills itself as "Live Every Night." It celebrated its fifth anniversary on Sept. 19. Here is the week posted on its website as of today:

The pattern repeats: Monday trivia, Tuesday open mic, Wednesday bingo, Thursday karaoke, Sunday jazz jam, and bands on the weekends. Around it are the other four places that took part in the carry-out zone on Oct. 10: JL's Pizza & Sports Bar, Schnell's Brauhaus, TJ O'Brien's Bar & Grill, and Pizza Bella. Pizza Bella's own site describes it as a family restaurant in downtown Palatine. That is a cluster of mid-sized rooms instead of one dominant venue, which is exactly the setup a streetscape built around patios and bumpouts is meant to support.

If you're looking for more weekend options downtown, our earlier piece on Palatine's Sunday food truck series and six-month farmers market covers the warm-weather rhythm that comes back in spring.

The Calendar Between Now and the Tree Lighting

The Palatine Park District fills much of the in-between season with events near downtown or easy to reach from it. Dates are from the Park District's calendar. Confirm times and registration with the district before you go.

1. Friday, Oct. 16: Fall Flicks shows The Goonies at Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center.
2. Friday, Oct. 23: Fall Flicks shows The Shining, also at Cutting Hall.
3. Saturday, Oct. 31: The Halloween Party runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Community Center.
4. Saturday, Nov. 21: The Merry Makers Market is at the Community Center, and the village's Annual Tree Lighting is in Towne Square.
5. Thursday, Nov. 26: The Turkey Trot & Sammy Scurry starts at Harper College on Thanksgiving morning.
6. Friday, Dec. 4: The Palatine Concert Band plays its Holiday Concert at Cutting Hall.

The rebuilt Slade Street now runs all the way to Towne Square Park, where the tree lighting will be held.

What Big Grove Brings Next Summer

Big Grove Brewery plans to remodel the building at 180 and 190 N. Smith St. into a restaurant, taproom, and small on-site brewery. According to Journal & Topics, it is a Midwest operator with six other locations in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, and it ranks as the 62nd-largest brewery in the country. The Daily Herald reported that the village council granted the special use in September, and that Big Grove expects to open next summer. Chief Operating Officer Mike Wehr told the council the company will brew five to seven beers on site, including some made just for this area, and suggested one could nod to the Durty Nellie's name.

The plan reviewed by the planning and zoning commission is what links Big Grove to the Slade Street project:

• Patio: a ground-floor patio of about 9,000 square feet with natural gas fire pits, trellises, and recreational areas for patrons and families.
• Seats: 492 inside and out, compared with the 517 approved for Durty Nellie's.
• Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends, shorter than Durty Nellie's originally approved hours.
• Upstairs: overflow seating and a private event space on the second floor.
• Neighbors: Pan American Bank and its drive-through stay open in the same building without interruption.
• Parking: the surface lot shrinks to 30 or 31 spaces from 41. Customers can use 70 free three-hour spaces on the ground floor of the village parking deck, and the deck has 1,244 more spaces for nights and weekends.

Fewer seats, earlier closing, and a family patio by the tracks all point the same way the village pointed Slade Street. Council member Brad Helms called Big Grove "the exact type of venue the downtown has been looking for." Council member Doug Myslinski called the change "a little bittersweet." The company plans to hire 150 people.

Two More Phases of Construction

Slade Street was phase one of three. Next year, construction moves to the intersection of Plum Grove and Palatine roads and to parts of Bothwell and Brockway streets south of Slade. The third phase, in 2028, covers work north of Towne Square Park. At the Oct. 10 party, one resident told the Daily Herald he'd like the village to continue the work on the other side of the Union Pacific tracks, since the completed stretch runs along the south side of the line.

Big Grove's expected opening next summer falls in the same year as phase two's work on Bothwell and Brockway. By the 2028 phase, downtown's evening map will have a new anchor on Smith Street, a finished patio corridor on Slade, and fresh work north of Towne Square. For more ways to get outside around town between now and then, see our guide to parks, trails, and outdoor life around Palatine.

If you own a home within walking distance of Slade Street, the street outside your door changed this summer, and two more phases of construction are on the way. Ashlee Fox follows downtown Palatine closely and can show you how changes like these come up when nearby homes are priced and shown. Start with a free home valuation, or request a free market consultation to talk through what the downtown plans could mean for your block.