New ownership to take over Finnegan’s Cottage in Loves Park with plans to add pub grill

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — New ownership is set to take over Finnegan’s Cottage on North Second Street with plans to add a pub grill to the longtime neighborhood bar late next year.

Vince Mangiaracina, who owns Bago Lounge in the village of Winnebago, is set to buy the property and business from longtime owner and operator John Waugh. They expect to close on the sale this week. The purchase price was not disclosed ahead of it entering the public record.

Finnegan’s Cottage, 4832 N. Second St., was built as a home in 1940. The quaint, 1,000-square-foot bar still has remnants of the old home including an inoperable stone fireplace.

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Karen Hobbs of KH Food Safety Consulting and Services, which is working with Mangiaracina on his plans to add a kitchen and full menu to the bar, compared its atmosphere to “Cheers” with some customers joking about their regular seats at the counter.

Hobbs and Mangiaracina said the plan is to add a kitchen and begin to serve burgers, grinders and other pub food by late 2025, pending approval from local regulatory agencies.

“I want everybody to know that this isn’t just a beer, shot bar,” Mangiaracina said. “You got to have big burgers and you got to have nice grinders.”

Mangiaracina sees potential for the kitchen to draw in new customers, especially with nearby businesses such as a Woodward facility about a block away. The stretch of North Second Street where Finnegan’s is located sees approximately 16,300 vehicles a day, according Illinois Department of Transportation estimates.

“If you serve a good burger, a nice juicy burger, and it’s a homemade burger – people are going to come in to get your burgers,” Mangiaracina said. “Homemade burgers: None of this frozen patty stuff.”

Waugh, 67, who has owned the bar since 1998 and started working there around 1990, said he was ready to retire and looking for someone with fresh energy to take over the business.

The bar is being purchased jointly with the next door car lot. Mangiaracina said the lot will initially be leased to the auto dealer running the site now as he develops future plans for the property.

Mangiaracina spent 35 years working for the sanitary district before retiring about two years ago, but he has long run bars and restaurants outside of his day job.

The 60-year-old business owner previously ran Vinny’s on Block 5 in downtown Rockford and Lucky 777’s in Roscoe.

He plans to have a regular presence at Finnegan’s too as he gets to know his customers.

He plans to keep the character of the pub in place, but he is considering a few other changes aside from the addition of a kitchen. Long-term, if approved by building officials, he hopes to add a fenced patio for outdoor seating.

“When it’s sunny outside, nobody wants to sit in a bar,” he said.

And, to reflect the addition of food, the name will change to Finnegan’s Slots and Pub.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas