Rockford-area restaurant recap: Here’s a look at new places to eat and other food news from 2023
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The Rockford-area restaurant scene went through some shakeups in 2023, with new restaurants opening, longtime staples closing and the relocation of a beloved favorite.
Here’s a look back at some of the local food news from the past year. The stories are listed chronologically.
Business news: Startup surge proves durable in Rockford area, across country 3 years after pandemic
Fill your plate with these 48 stories about different restaurant, bar, ice cream parlor and coffee shop happenings in 2023:
Chavez Mexican Restaurant opens
About: Jose Chavez, who previously operated Fuego Nuevo Grill on Spring Creek Road, opened Chavez Mexican Restaurant on Feb. 15 inside the former Tumbleweed Southwest Grill, which closed in 2008 and later became Ichiban and Hibachi Buffet.
Where: 5494 E. State St., Rockford
What it serves: Authentic Mexican cuisine cooked from scratch including birria, woodfire-grilled chicken with mole sauce, quesadillas and seafood options such as woodfire -grilled red snapper and salmon.
Rockford Roasting Co. consolidates
About: Rockford Roasting Co. closed its original downtown location on March 10 to consolidate its cafe services under one roof at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Rockford Riverfront Hotel.
Where: 416 S. Main St., Rockford
What it serves: The locally owned coffee shop has created a variety of roasts, and it creates special seasonal drinks with unique flavors and combinations.
Irish Rose closes in Rockford
About: The Irish Rose Saloon, a staple for fine dining in downtown Rockford for more than 30 years, announced its indefinite closure on Feb. 28 due to a family illness. The restaurant remains closed.
Where: 519 E. State St., Rockford
Tom & Jerry’s opens fourth location
About: Owner Bob Grottke opened the fourth Tom & Jerry’s in the Rockford area on March 21 in Loves Park.
Where: 7170 E. Riverside Blvd., Loves Park
What it serves: Gyros, Italian beef sandwiches, Vienna beef hot dogs and other fast-casual food.
Carlyle ownership change
About: Don Carlyle and Rocio Perez of Carlyle Brewing Co. announced in February that they would be retiring and selling the business to Joe and Anne D’Astice, the owners of Woodfire Brick Oven Pizza.
The D’Astices took over the business on March 31.
Where: 215 E. State St., Rockford
What it serves: A variety of brews including Stanilla, Humulus Lupulus IPA and The ‘OG’ Vanilla Cream Ale. Food options include a thin crust pizza, thin-sliced Italian beef, hummus platter with fresh vegetables and house-made pita chips and giant Bavarian-style pretzel.
Wood & Brick Tavern opens
About: Wood & Brick Tavern is a project from a pair of tradesmen — Jeff Lindquist and Kelly Fosberg — who used their woodworking and brick masonry skills to rejuvenate a decades old neighborhood bar while keeping its historic character intact.
Where: 315 S. Main St., Rockford
What it serves: The tavern serves beer, wine and cocktails, with eight beers on tap. The drink menu evolves with seasonal changes and switches based on customer feedback.
Ambiance opens in downtown Rockford
About: Tisha Hannah’s Southern soul food recipes gained popularity as a food truck called T&C’s Cooking creations. In March, she opened Ambiance Cuisine Cocktails & Catering, a reservation-only soul food restaurant.
Where: 307 S. Main St., Rockford
What it serves: A variety of soul food meals such as lobster tails served with macaroni and cheese and collard greens. There are also several pasta dishes, blackened, fried or grilled catfish, surf and turf, and an array of cocktails.
Alvarez closes after 28 years in business
About: Alvarez Mexican Restaurant has closed its doors in late March after 28 years in business. The space is now filled by Marquense’s Mexican Bar & Grill.
Where: 1600 S. Bell School Road, Cherry Valley
Golden Bowl Asian
About: Golden Bowl Asian Rockford opened May 13 inside the former Imperial Palace, which closed after 27 years in business.
Where: 3415 E. State St., Rockford
What does it serve: The restaurant serves a variety of Asian fusion dishes. Two of its most popular items are orange chicken and Korean barbecue short ribs. There is also stir fry, pho noodle soup, Mongolian beef and other options.
Canna Cafe opens in Rockford
About: Lola Renner and Taylor Seitz opened The Canna Cafe on April 20 inside The Hemp Center of Northern Illinois, a cannabis health and wellness shop Renner opened in 2019.
Where: 6830 Spring Creek Road, Rockford
What it serves: It serves sandwiches and soups and non-alcoholic cocktails that you can get infused with hemp-derived cannabis products such as delta-8, delta-9, THCA, CBD, CBG, CBA and other cannabinoids.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe opens in Rockford, Machesney Park
About: Tropical Smoothie Cafe celebrated the grand opening of its first Rockford location on June 9. It is the first of several locations planned in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, including a Machsney Park location that opened later in June.
Where: 1998 McFarland Road, Rockford; 10083 N. Second St., Machesney Park
What it serves: The national chain specializes in made-to-order smoothies, fresh sandwiches, paninis, flatbreads and wraps. It also has healthy sides such as its kale apple slaw, which is made in-house.
RBI Brunch and Dinner gets new ownership
About: Toby and Dave Prochnicki of Belvidere took over the former RBI Brunch Bar in April and revamped it into RBI Brunch and Dinner | Bourbon Street Lounge.
Where: 3870 N. Perryville Road, Rockford
What it serves: Breakfast and brunch options include churro waffles, breakfast tacos, doughnut towers, avocado toast, loaded Texas biscuits, and strawberry-banana Swedish pancakes with Nutella. The dinner menu includes bourbon-glazed Atlantic salmon and a bourbon-glazed Duroc Frenched pork chop. There are also burgers, wraps, salads and chicken street tacos.
My Cafe Amore opens in Cherry Valley
About: My Cafe Amore, a locally owned shop that serves its dessert-like coffee drinks in bags, opened May 5 in downtown Cherry Valley. The shop is owned by Morgan Bell, a 28-year-old police officer-turned-entrepreneur.
Where: 125 E. State St., suite E, Cherry Valley
What it serves: Sweet coffee drinks with flavors created in-house such as Netflix & Chill, which is topped with buttered popcorn and M&M’s, or Thicc Mint, which mirrors the taste of thin mint Girl Scout cookies. There are also more traditional coffee drinks.
La Michoacana Denisse opens in Midtown
About: La Michoacana Denisse opend June 24 in Rockford’s Midtown District, filling the former Kimberly’s Homemade Ice Cream & More space.
Where: 528 Seventh St., Rockford
What it serves: Homemade ice cream and other Mexican treats. You can get ice cream bars, walking tacos, specialty yogurts with fruits, mangonadas, shakes, natural juices, horchatas and aguas frescas, which are a sweet blended fruit drink.
Hoffman House expands casual side
About: Hoffman House merged with its more casual brand, Scorecard Sports Bar, in July as the restaurant looked to create a more casual dining experience. Much of the fine-dining options stayed on the menu, but some longtime fans of the restaurant were disappointed with the departure of the salad bar.
Where: 7550 E. State St., Rockford
What it serves: Popular items include prime rib, fish fry, shrimp, fried bread and salmon.
Tortilla Express opens in downtown Rockford
About: Tortilla Express, a fast-casual dining option owned by Jose Chavez, opened July 12 at the corner of State and Main streets. Chavez also owns Chavez Mexican Restaurant.
Where: 202 W. State St., Rockford
What it serves: The restaurant serves tacos, quesadillas, nachos and other fast-casual Mexican staples. It’s billed as having the same quality as Chavez Mexican Restaurant but served at a faster pace.
El Vallarta opens in Cherry Valley
About: El Vallarta Sports Bar and Grill, a Mexican seafood restaurant with a high-end bar, late-night kitchen and live music, opened July 14 in the former Granite City Food & Brewery.
Where: 7140 Harrison Ave., Cherry Valley
What it serves: Mexican sushi and Mexican seafood standards such as whole snapper, prawns, octopus, mussels, shrimp, oysters and lobster tail. Soups, fajitas, salads and steaks will also be available. A children’s menu includes pasta and quesadillas.
Jalisco & Tequila opens in downtown Rockford
About: Jalisco & Tequila opened Aug. 12 in the former Los Portales, which closed after nearly two decades in business because the owners decided to retire. It is owned by Claudia Rodriguez, and her husband, Carlos Rubio, is the head chef.
Where: 805 E. State St., Rockford
What it serves: The menu includes street food such as gorditas, sopes and tortas. There are also chimichangas, steak burritos, a variety of fajitas and different options for parrillada, a platter with a mixture of meats that can include steak, chicken, beef ribs and chorizo. Everything is made in-house from scratch.
Koo’s Bento & Bowl opens in Rockford
About: Sisters Juliawati Caudell and Martha Susilawati opened Koo’s Bento & Bowl in mid-September. It is the city’s first Indonesian restaurant.
Where: 3206 S. Alpine Road, Rockford
What it serves: Indonesian staples such as beef rendang, nasi goreng, chicken mee goreng and nasi uduk as well as Asian fusion meals like beef and chicken teriyaki, crispy pork katsu and barbecue pork noodle.
Dirty Dough opens at Flow
About: Cookie franchise Dirty Dough opened its first Rockford location in September inside Flow Supreme Air Sports. Colby Campbell is the owner of Flow and franchise owner of this Dirty Dough.
Where: 5505 E. State St., Rockford
What it serves: It specializes in super thick, soft and gooey stuffed cookies. It has a rotating menu of two cookie specials and six that remain constant.
The Kitchen Tap Wall & Grill inside Victory Pickleball
About: The Kitchen Tap Wall & Grill opened in mid-September inside Victory Pickleball, a 54,000-square-foot complex with 15 indoor pickleball courts. Owner Tim Ancona invested in renovating the former Victory Sports Complex for the new pickleball center and restaurant, which has the area’s only tap wall with 30 beers and wine on tap.
Where: 7003 N. Alpine Road, Loves Park
What it serves: It has a variety of food ranging from pizza and burgers to tacos and bowls, such as southwest fajita bowl with cilantro lime rice, avocado, tomatoes, red onions, black beans, corn salsa and peppers. You can get the fajita bowl topped with skirt steak, mahi mahi, grilled chicken or roasted vegetables. There are also fish tacos, bison burger, poblano burger, a wide selection of appetizers and other options. The self-serve tap wall has a selection off 30 beers, wines and seltzers.
Family-owned bakery opens third location
About: RBK Bakery, which was started by Evaristo and Rebeca Cruz of Belvidere, opened its third location in October inside CherryVale Mall. In mid-September they opened their second location at 109A Buchanan St. in Belvidere. They also operate a bakery inside Rivera’s Fresh Market, 3512 E. State St. in Rockford.
Where: Inside CherryVale Mall, 7200 Harrison Ave., Cherry Valley. (Between Pandora and Journeys)
What it serves: The bakery in traditional Mexican breads, pastries, cakes, cookies and other baked goods.
Inzombia opens at RVC
About: Inzombia Coffee opened its second location on Oct. 12. The coffee shop debuted in downtown in summer 2022 and now operates both there and at Rock Valley College. It’s locally owned by Pete DuFoe
Where: Rock Valley College Education Resource Center, 3301 N. Mulford Road, Rockford
What it serves: The locally owned coffee shop is known for its ’90s theme and its seasonal and specialty drink creations.
Minni’s Ice Cream opens in downtown
About: Minni’s Ice Cream opened Oct. 21, filling the former True Colors space near the BMO Center in downtown Rockford. The ice cream parlor is owned by Tom and Michael Minnihan, who also own Minnihan’s bar, 226 S. Main St. in Rockford.
Where: 211 Elm St., Rockford
What it serves: It offers 28 flavors of hand-scooped ice cream as well as soft serve, pizza by the slice and hot dogs.
Mama’s Feel Good Food opens seasonal shop
About: Julie and David Alexander opened Mama’s Feel Good Food on Oct. 28 inside Dairy Depot in Loves Park. The seasonal soup shop operates on weekends during colder weather months. Dairy Depot returns to business when the weather warms up.
Where: Dairy Depot, 5413 N. Second St., Loves Park
What it serves: The menu consists of three soups and two varieties of bread. There is Lulu’s Love Dumplins, Mama’s Boys Baked Potato Soup, Little Man’s Chicken King and Muga’s Magic Bread. You can also get a sampler flight of all three soups called Triss and the Fathead’s Fourth Meal Flight.
New ownership takes over Ritchie’s in Machesney Park
About: New ownership took over Ritchie’s Smokin’ BBQ in Machesney Park in October and added more menu options for you to enjoy before or after your barbecue. Taylor Griep and her family bought the business from Ritchie Lane when he decided to retire.
Where: 7828 N. Second St., Machesney Park
What it serves: Ritchie’s has a variety of barbecue meals, and the Griep family added appetizers such as jalapeno poppers, French fries, onion rings and mozzarella sticks. They also added salads and chicken to the menu and ice cream for dessert.
Last area Sonic closes
About: The last remaining Sonic Drive-In in the Rockford area closed in October. All the signage for the chain restaurant has been removed in preparation for a future tenant that has not yet been named.
Where: 1602 E. Riverside Blvd., Loves Park
Five Guys opens first Machesney Park location
About: Five Guys opened Oct. 23 next to Tropical Smoothie Cafe in a three-tenant building developed by First Midwest Group.
Where: 10055 N. Second St., Machesney Park
What it serves: The chain restaurant is known for its hand-formed burger patties, hand-cut fries and complementary peanuts.
SALT opens in Rockford
About: SALT, a new upscale fine-dining establishment, opened Oct. 27 in the former Josef’s Steakhouse & Oyster Bar, which closed at the end of 2022.
Where: 6860 Spring Creek Road, Rockford
About: The menu changes quarterly. At the top of the menu now is a massive prime dry-aged ribeye that comes with Harrison Market Gardens-grown Adirondack potato galette with bordelaise sauce. There’s also Duroc pork tomahawk with fondant sweet potato, spinach coulis and aleppo maple mustard. And you can get a rack of lamb, black cod, lobster tortellini, lamb ragu and peri peri romanesco.
Beef-a-Roo opens more locations around the country
About: Rockford-based Beef-a-Roo opened five locations outside of Illinois in a six-month stretch of 2023. The company was founded in Rockford in 1967. It is now being franchised to new locations by Next Brands, a family-run business that focuses on the fast-service restaurant industry.
Where: The five newest Beef-a-Roo locations are:
- 3312 E. Chestnut Expressway, Springfield, Missouri
- 1315 S. Shackleford, Little Rock, Arkansas
- 1111 U.S. Route 62, Harrison, Arkansas
- 9500 W. 135th St., Overland Park, Kansas
- 1360 W. State Road 32, Lebanon, Indiana
Crumbl opens first Rockford shop
About: Crumbl, the fastest-growing chain of dessert shops in the country, opened in early November.
Where: 6150 E. State St., suite 120, Rockford
What it serves: The chain is known for its rotating menu of cookies made from more than 200 flavors that can be purchased in store, delivered or shipped around the country in its familiar pink box.
Keebler Kitchen opens in Rockford
About: Brothers Ruben Randle and Jesse Stapleton opened Keebler Kitchen on Nov. 20 in the space that was previously Taqueria Azteca Express. It has dine-in, carryout and drive-thru options.
Where: 5811 Forest Hills Road, Rockford
What it serves: The everyday menu includes an Italian beef, double cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, nachos, chicken tenders, catfish nuggets and shrimp. It has a special menu on Sundays with your choice of various meats and sides.
Cocktail lounge opens in downtown Rockford
About: The Lounge, a cozy new bar with speakeasy vibes inside Union Event Space, held its first open house during Stroll on State in November.
Where: 112 N. Second St., Rockford
What it serves: Cocktails such as an old fashioned and Manhattan, and other drinks including raspberry gin fizz, cucumber margarita and a spicy bloody Mary.
Poke Green opens in Rockford
About: Poke Green opened in early December, filling the former 815 Cajun location. The restaurant is locally owned by Michelle Lin and Jin Wu Lin.
Where: 3053 N. Perryville Road, Rockford
What it serves: Hawaiian and Asian fusion cuisine centered around fish and veggie poke bowls. There is also chicken and beef teriyaki coming to the menu.
Taco Libre opens in downtown Rockford
About: Taco Libre opened on Dec. 8, filling the former Vintage 501, which closed in August after 12 years in business.
Where: 501 E. State St., Rockford
What it serves: It serves a variety of street tacos with chicken, beef and carnitas, as well as some original recipes. There are also margaritas on draft and a selection of tequila, mezcal and whiskey.
Ramen & Tea opens
About: Ramen & Tea is focused on traditional ramen preparation with broths cooked in house for eight hours daily. It’s owned by Shenen Zhu, who also runs Haichi Sushi in Loves Park.
Where: 7062 Walton St., Rockford
What it serves: The restaurant makes its own tonkotsu, miso and shoyu broths daily. You have your choice of toppings ranging from chashu — a tender braised pork belly — to beef, chicken and seafood. The drink menu a mix of fruit-infused teas, non-alcoholic fresh mint mojitos and sweet and colorful milk teas with boba poppers.
Ryusei Ramen And Izakaya opens
About: Ryusei Ramen and Izakaya, which specializes in ramen and Korean fried chicken, opened on Black Friday inside the former Five Guys burger restaurant in east Rockford. It’s owned by Scott Souvannasane, who is running his first restaurant after years of working in the restaurant industry.
Where: 611 Highgrove Place, Rockford
What it serves: The restaurant offers pork and chicken ramen and Korean fried chicken with a house-made spicy gochujang glaze or sweet and savory soy sauce garlic glaze. Everything from the sauces that top the crispy chicken legs and wings to the broth and noodles is made from scratch in-house. It’s all made fresh to order.
Half Baked Bar takes over Stockyard
About: Half Baked Bar is a new concept centered on hemp-infused drinks and snacks that took over Stockyard Rock Burger Bar in December at the North Towne Mall. Billy Ni, who ran Stockyard, partnered with Erik Carlson and John Murray of Buckbee Weed Co. for the new concept.
Where: 908 W. Riverside Blvd., Rockford
What it serves: Half Baked is a pizza-focused eatery that offers farm-to-table, hemp-derived cannabinoid infusions for alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. It also sells a range of farm-to-table hemp products, including edibles and baked goods.
Bop Bop opens in downtown Rockford
About: Bop Bop Korean BBQ & Rice Bowl filled the indoor Rockford City Market space formerly occupied Guzel, a Mediterranean-style restaurant that closed in spring. The restaurant, which grew from a food truck that made its debut season in spring, opened on Dec. 15.
Where: 116 N. Madison St., Rockford
What it serves: The restaurant specializes in quick-service grab-and-go foods such as Korean mozzarella corn dogs, which can be ordered with a hot Cheetos topping and sweet spicy gochujang sauce. You can also get various rice bowls including galbi and beef bulgogi.
Vanakkam India: Craft Indian Kitchen opens
About: John Vinoth Kumar Rajan and his business partner Nu Nu opened Vanakkam India: Craft Indian Kitchen on Dec. 18 inside the former Cucina di Rosa.
Where: 1620 N. Bell School Road, Rockford
What it serves: The menu includes a range of traditional Indian food including tikka masala, Tandoori shrimp, lamb seekh kebab and Gongura chicken, a spicy and sour recipe that is popular in Rajan’s home town in south India. Everything is made from scratch.
Coming in 2024
The GOAT coming to Rockford’s North End
About: Tom McDonald, a Byron resident who owns two taverns in the Rockford area, plans to open The GOAT Pub and Grill on Rockford’s North End in 2024. The space has been empty since early 2022 when North Main Bar lost its liquor license.
Where: 1428 N. Main St., Rockford
Buona Beef and The Original Rainbow Cone in Loves Park
About: Buona Beef and The Original Rainbow Cone, two family-owned chains that are staples in Chicagoland, is under construction at the corner of East Riverside Boulevard and Galleria Drive, which is just west of the Interstate 90 interchange in front of Blain’s Farm & Fleet. We told you about plans for the restaurants in June. A precise timetable hasn’t been provided but they’re expected to open in 2024.
Where: 7310 Riverside Blvd., Loves Park
Popeyes and 2 others coming to east Rockford
About: A new Popeyes Louisiana Chicken is planned for a three-tenant building on East State Street. Z & H Foods, a Texas-based franchisee of Popeyes, plans to build a 6,500-square-foot building for the future restaurants. A timeline for opening isn’t clear, but the company said earlier this year it hoped to begin work in late 2023 or early 2024.
Where: 7210 Walton St., Rockford
Ripe Life Juice Co. prepares for move
About: Ripe Life Juice Co. closed its shop inside Stewart Square in August with initial plans to fill the former Rockford Roasting Co. space. Owner Jamar Luster is now remodeling space at 333 E. State St. with hopes of opening in early 2024.
Where: 333 E. State St., Rockford
What it serves: The business focuses on freshly squeezed juices and smoothies that never include added sugar. The menu includes Luster’s smoothie concepts such as Green Guard, which is made with kale, spinach, pineapple, banana, coconut water, moringa and chlorella and sweetened with agave or honey.
Disco Chicken to fill former Taco Betty’s
About: Rockford chef and restaurateur Paul Sletten, who also owns Abreo and Social in downtown, plans to open Disco Chicken inside the former Taco Betty’s space by spring.
Where: 212 E. State St., Rockford
What it will serve: The three-level restaurant will be anchored by the casual, creative chicken sandwiches, loaded tater tots and tenders that have been served at the Disco Chicken food truck since May 2019. You’ll also find Bad Humor ice cream treats and canned cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks similar to what’s at VeeDubs mobile cocktail bar.
Barbecue pitmaster prepares for new Roscoe Restaurant
About: Homegrown pitmaster Will Hendrickson debuted the Whiskey Hotel Barbecue food truck this summer. Now, he’s preparing to open his first brick-and-mortar restaurant inside the former Sabor Bar & Grill.
Where: 5522 Elevator Road, Roscoe
What it serves: It serves a variety of barbecue including Texas beef brisket, Kansas City brisket burnt ends, South Carolina pulled pork and bacon burnt ends.
Velvet Robot to open new location in Roscoe
About: Velvet Robot Coffee Lab closed its downtown Rockford shop and plans to open in Roscoe in early 2024. The locally owned coffee shop still has a Rockford location at 1292 S. Alpine Road.
Where: 10514 N. Main St. in Roscoe
Capri moves to Loves Park
About: Capri Restaurant purchased a former Shell gas station property on Nov. 30 for the future home of its restaurant. The Italian restaurant, which has been a staple in downtown Rockford since 1963, plans to open in Loves Park in early 2024 for carryout service and add dine-in later.
Where: 6480 E. Riverside Blvd., Loves Park
Compiled by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
