A Chicago restaurant investor is looking at Winthrop Harbor as the possible home for a new upscale Italian restaurant with a piano bar and valet parking.
At a Village Board meeting Tuesday night, Anthony Tolitano requested a permit to open the new restaurant at Sheridan Road and 7th Street. He said he hopes to open the restaurant by late February or March, depending on how soon he receives the permit and can remodel the building.
Besides the piano bar and valet parking, Tolitano plans to offer customers free appetizers before the meal, he said. “We want to make dining here an experience,” he said.
Tolitano estimated that about 75 percent of Winthrop Harbor residents go to nearby Wisconsin for what he terms “fine dining.” Tolitano said that after studying the village’s growth, he believes Winthrop Harbor may rival Long Grove in another three to four years. Although he said he believes diners generated from the nearby marina would be a plus, he said he didn’t consider the village’s recreational boating industry when he decided to open the restaurant.
