The former Holiday Inn hotel at Interstate 80 and Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park has a new paint job to go along with its new name.
The green color scheme of Holiday Inn has been replaced by a gray color scheme and the hotel has been rebranded as an EVEN Hotels property. New signage went up last week.
The hotel adjacent to the Tinley Park Convention Center is the first in Illinois for EVEN, which is part of the Intercontinental Hotel Group family that includes Holiday Inn. EVEN was launched in 2012 and the Tinley location is the 14th one nationwide with another 30 in development.
The hotel was purchased from Hilton in late 2018 by The Harp Group, a real estate investment firm that is the new manager of the adjacent convention center. The Harp Group now lists the convention center address as its corporate office on its website.
A new Holiday Inn Express hotel is expected to open soon three miles away in Mokena, just south of the LaGrange Road and Interstate 80 interchange.
Dimitri opens second location in Frankfort
Dimitri Best Food has opened a second location in Frankfort across the street from the massive new Amazon distribution center being built at Vollmer Road and Harlem Avenue in Matteson.
The original Dimitri restaurant was opened in 1987 in northwest Indiana before moving to its current location at 207 Joe Orr Road in Chicago Heights.
The newest restaurant is at 19866 S. Harlem Ave. in the former Debo’s Dogs location next door to the shuttered Lincoln-Way North High School.
The new location is about 1,400 square feet and is currently serving takeout and features a drive-thru window. When COVID restrictions are lifted it will have a couple of booths available for indoor dining.
Country Charm open again
Country Charm restaurant in New Lenox has reopened after it was closed because an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
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The restaurant at 101 Lincolnway Drive has carryout and is allowing customers to dine in.
Olympic Star open again
Olympic Star restaurant in Tinley Park was closed for a few days last week before reopening Sunday with curbside and carryout service only as part of its response to the latest pandemic shutdown in suburban Cook County.
The restaurant at 7100 W. 171st St. has been service Tinley Park since 1978. Hours have been curtailed at the restaurant. No longer open 24 hours, it is now open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Masks & More opens second pop-up, donates masks
Masks & More Outlet, a pop-up store that sells PPE essentials including masks, sanitizer, wipes, gloves and disinfectant sprays for Tinley Park-based PulseTV.com, has opened a second location in Tinley Park’s Tinley Downs Plaza, next door to Plush Horse.
Their first location opened in August at Orland Crossing in Orland Park.
“I don’t know how long it will last,” co-owner Anisa Ali said at the time. “But if we have to close, that would be a good sign.”
The parent company, PulseTV.com, is an online retailer that she and Tom Zegar founded in 1998. “We started selling ‘Riverdance’ videos.”
The new store is at 7911 W. 171st St.
Masks and More just donated Halloween masks to hospitalized children hospitalized.
“Halloween is such a fun day for the kids and we wanted to bring a little joy with these masks printed with all of the kid-favorite Halloween themed characters,” said Ali. “Children’s sizes range from ages 3-8 and age 9 on up to adults.”
Masks were delivered to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Silver Cross in New Lenox, St. James in Olympia Fields and Riverside Hospital in Kankakee.
Bob Bong is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].