Texas-based Perry’s Steakhouse & Grill is the previously unnamed restaurant to be incorporated into the ongoing reinvention of the Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills.
The 11,000 square foot restaurant will seat up to 350 people and will include four private dining rooms on a freestanding site at the southwest corner of Ring Road and Milwaukee Avenue. Dining on the terrace will accommodate another 45 guests.
Vernon Hills will be the chain’s third location in the Chicago area when it opens in late 2023. Perry’s has been in the suburbs for nine years and operates in Oak Brook and Schaumburg, as well as Denver, Nashville, Raleigh, North Carolina, Coral Gables, Florida, Birmingham, Alabama and 13 locations in Texas. A store in Richmond, Va., is also slated to open in 2023.
The restaurant is known for its award-winning menu of butcher-fresh steaks. “irreproachable” service; and, a “vibrantly elegant, yet comfortable atmosphere,” according to a press release announcing the upcoming opening.
The concept of an upscale but no-name steakhouse on the perimeter of the Hawthorn Mall surfaced in March. The idea has whetted the appetite of village officials as a potential draw for other top tenants in the ongoing $252 million Hawthorn 2.0 redevelopment.
“I would say it’s a home run,” village administrator David Oppenheim said at the time.
The identity was under wraps until a few weeks ago when the village council informally approved changes to plans to redevelop the shopping center and surrounding property to allow for what had been described as a ‘high end’ steakhouse. and awarded”.
“Every time a new tenant of Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille’s stature joins us, it absolutely grabs the attention of other potential new tenants,” said Jeff Rutzen, general manager of Hawthorn.
Dallas-based Centennial Real Estate, the mall’s owner and lead developer of the sprawling remake of the 1970s property, has sought approvals to resubdivide 5 acres to accommodate the restaurant.
Centennial has also been given the go-ahead to begin mass grading and other site preparations to prepare it for construction in the spring.
Perry’s Restaurants is described as a Texas-based boutique restaurant group with butcher/delicatessen roots in Houston. The first restaurant opened in 1993. A “Rare and Well Done” dining experience and “Bar 79” (named after the year Perry’s was established) are hallmark features.
Vernon Hills by Perry was designed in partnership with Chicago-based Aria Group Architects Inc., according to the release.
The Vernon Hills location will feature a sprawling main dining room offering an all-round view of the chefs at work. Other design elements include a towering wall of wine, a vibrant color palette, and “exquisite use of glass, lighting, and other textures” to create an inviting dining environment.
Work on global development is progressing. The first building of The Domaine’s 311 luxury apartments is nearing completion and will be ready for residents early next year, Rutzen said.
New shopping and dining options will open on Hawthorn Row (former Sears anchor site) later in 2023, he added.
In September, the Village Council approved a revised plan for the former Carson Anchor Site which includes an expanded plaza, 55,000 square feet of new retail/restaurant space, a new entrance to the shopping center and 250 luxury apartments. This second phase of the mall property redevelopment is expected to begin early next year and be completed by January 2025.
