Popular Joliet Restaurant Brings Tasty Food To Channahon: Photos
CHANNAHON — A Mississippi pot roast dinner for less than $20. A pork tenderloin dinner for $15. Grilled Grecian style pork chops with a side for $15. A 10-ounce rib eye steak dinner with two sides for $25. Or, for less than $30, the Surf & Turf — 10 ounce rib eye, four shrimps and two sides.
With business flourishing the past few years at The Grill at Fritz’s Pour House, Joliet restaurateur Miguel “Mike” Villarreal took a leap of faith this fall by adding another location. In Channahon, he opened The Grill At The Office in October.
The Grill At The Office is at 25520 Pheasant Lane, near the busy intersection of Route 6 and Ridge Road, near the boundary lines for Channahon and Minooka.
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If you are wondering whether The Grill at The Office is identical to Villarreal’s The Grill At Fritz’s Pour House, the answer is “No.”
Villarreal’s Channahon restaurant offers some foods and specials you won’t find in Joliet, and vice versa. And the atmosphere is different in Channahon. Fritz’s Pour House on Joliet’s Plainfield Road has a cozy, intimate atmosphere.
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The Grill At The Office offers much more sit-down space.
‘We Can Accommodate Parties’
And while the menus of Villarreal’s two sit-down restaurants are not identical, much of the menu overlaps and many of the crowd pleasers in Joliet are also available for customers visiting The Grill at The Office in Channahon.
Actually, one of the biggest noticeable differences between the two locations is parking. Fritz’s Pour House has a small, tight parking lot. The Channahon parking lot is enormous, because it’s part of a large commercial strip mall.
The kitchen for The Grill At The Office is closed Mondays and stays open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
One of the great features of the Channahon restaurant, Villarreal pointed out, is the building’s size.
“So we can accommodate parties,” he remarked. “We’ve done 40 to 60 people, tops.
“Moving forward, we can do private parties and corporate parties. I think we have one of the larger dining rooms in the area and the bar is much larger.”
‘We Do Have Different Draws For Both Restaurants’
The Grill At The Office has a dining room so big that it features two pool tables and a couple of dart boards “and plenty of gaming,” Villarreal noted.
Villarreal said he’s found many of his customers visiting his Channahon restaurant had previously dined at his Joliet restaurant.
“We do have different draws for both restaurants,” remarked Bradley Skoczylas, executive chef. “The specials and staples in Joliet have become more and more a part of our regular menus over here. Eventually, we will get into destination recipes over here, and there will be some things you can get over here and some things only over there.
“We do sell a lot of burgers as well, and a lot of Philly steak (sandwiches) here too.”
For those interested in Villarreal’s seasonal sensation, The Beef Wellington, you can only get that in Joliet. The same is true with the oysters and the pasta dishes. “And the skirt steak with truffles, that’s only a Joliet thing,” Villarreal explained.
The owner and executive chef said the beef stroganoff in Channahon is a beef tenderloin, which is different meat from Fritz’s Pour House in Joliet. Channahon is also the exclusive destination for their homemade meatballs.
“It’s something you can only get here,” remarked Skoczylas.
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These Tomahawk Steaks Are Selling In Channahon
And in Channahon, The Grill At The Office has turned the viral sensation known as the Dubai chocolate bar into a cheesecake.
And there are appetizers you aren’t likely to find on the menu at many area restaurants such as baked goat cheese, steak bites and Tzatziki Dip.
While most of the dinner menu is under $20 in Channahon, there is one item on the menu that costs about $100. It’s the tomahawk steak. The tomahawk steak weighs between 3 and 3 1/2 pounds and believe it or not, it’s been a great seller in Channahon, Villarreal said.
“We sold at least 10 of them in one week,” he proclaimed.
In addition to Channahon, The Grill At The Office has been drawing people from Morris, Minooka, Wilmington, LaSalle, Peru, Braidwood and Coal City, Villarreal said.
How does Villarreal want The Grill At The Office to be known?
“Upscale bar food, steaks and everybody’s welcome,” he remarked.
“I want to say thank you to all the surrounding communities for their support and love and I want to give a thank you to Ed and Lena from Fritz’s and Chris and Sue from The Office for entrusting us for giving us the opportunity to work here. Our goal is to intertwine with our community and give them a unique culinary experience.”
Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas
Villarreal said that this Friday and Saturday only, people who purchase $100 gift certificates for any of his three restaurants: The Grill At The Office, The Grill At Fritz’s Pour House and Jody’s Hot Dogs on Joliet’s Republic Avenue will get a free $25 gift certificate.
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