A new bar hopes to bring the downtown nightclub atmosphere to River Grove — but without the high prices.
Inside the new business, called 3 Lounge, located at 8166 Grand Ave., it isn’t hard to see that’s the kind of atmosphere they’re aiming for, with a white and black color scheme that permeates the inside of the space. Rory Flot, 46, one of three owners of the business, said an eclectic look and feel is what he’s going for.
“We want it to be different,” he said. “I wanted to bring something to the community that is different.”
Flot says he’s been in the food and beverage business for various hotels for his entire career, making sure the various bars, restaurants, eateries and room service in these hotels had what they needed when it came to food and drink. He believes he can do that at 3 Lounge.
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The 3 Lounge has a full bar and plenty of seating for drinking or eating. The lounge has a kitchen that specializes in cooking appetizer-sized dishes that Flot calls “Drink ‘n’ Snacks.” The menu offers 14 choices, like mini steak burgers, barbecue pulled pork minis, filet mignon minis and coconut shrimp.
He emphasized that the food and drink at his establishment won’t carry downtown prices, but customers will get the downtown feel.
River Grove Village Board member Tracy Aller recently visited the lounge as part of a reception for village officials and the local chamber of commerce.
“It’s very nice inside,” Aller said. “You can tell they put in a lot of attention to detail. It has a really clean look. I tried their pulled pork sandwich and it was very tasty.”
The 3 Lounge is very different than most bars and restaurants in River Grove and Flot likes it that way. There will be a soft dress code to enter the establishment, and they’ll have various DJs rotating in and out weekly. They also plan to offer live jazz occasionally.
“We’ve had a Colombian DJ [specializing in Colombian music], a house music DJ and we had a Polish DJ,” he said.
He says the lounge is definitely not a sports bar.
“It will be a destination type of lounge place,” he said. “It will be like downtown Chicago, but you don’t have to drive there. I want to bring the Chicago nightlife to the suburbs.”
Ray Bernero, director of economic development for the village of River Grove, believes there’s nothing wrong with a different business approach.
“I love that it’s different,” he said. “One of the things we have to stop doing is doing the same thing over and over again.”
That’s one reason Bernero said he welcomes 3 Lounge to the village.
“They’re trying to break the mold and be innovative and we’ll be supportive and see where it goes,” he said. “We must be doing something in River Grove for them to decide to come here.”
Flot said prior to opening the lounge he and his two partners were strictly into buying, rehabbing and selling homes. But when their attorney told them about the future location of 3 Lounge, Flot said it was an opportunity they couldn’t pass on. Personally, Flot believes it was an opportunity to run the kind the business he was trained for.
“I kind of wanted to do this for a long time,” he said. “I don’t want to say ‘What if?’ anymore. I’m too old to say ‘What if.'”
He says his passion for working in the hospitality industry has not went out and believes he’ll win over River Grove residents and others in the surrounding communities to make his lounge their spot.
The restaurant is named 3 Lounge because there are three owners: Flot, Christian Arce and Rodrigo Mendoza.
The restaurant is closed on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, they’re open from 8 p.m. to 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
On the days that they’re closed, Flot wants to market the lounge for private parties and events. He said he isn’t afraid to reach out and believes in time, the community will respond.
“I think with all the community around here, they will embrace us,” he said.
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Twitter: @DavidDPollard