New Restaurant Opens, Minooka Basement Bar & Grill

MINOOKA, IL — A new sit-down restaurant bar has opened in downtown Minooka, two doors down from a local landmark, Cookies. The new place is called Minooka Basement Bar & Grill.

The actual basement is the restaurant and bar. The second floor is a soon-to-be banquet hall.

The banquet hall will open in August, and it can seat about 80 people. The new Minooka restaurant, at 109 West Mondamin Street, is run by Joaquin Castro, a Channahon resident. He worked for 20 years at the Bolingbrook Golf Club, where he became the banquet manager.

His wife, Sylvia, is a nurse.

"I always wanted to open a restaurant. It's like my dream," Castro told Patch's editor.

So far, so good, as far as the community's reaction to the Minooka Basement after one month of business, according to Castro.

"They don't expect what's here from looking outside," he said. "We can say that some people are proud to have us in the neighborhood. We have drink specials and Leo (Miranda) is our chef."

As far as the banquet hall is concerned, "we just want to bring back small events to this community," Castro said. "People used to have events up here all the time."

Castro said his family purchased the downtown Minooka property last year, and they've been remodeling it ever since, installing a new kitchen, upgrading the entire plumbing system and repainting the floors, among other things.

June 17 marked the first day of business for the Minooka Basement Bar & Grill.

"Our food is bar food, comfort food, food with specials," Castro said. "And most important, kids are welcome. We want everyone to know that kids are welcome, kids and families."

Minooka Basement Bar & Grill is open noon to 9 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and from noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

It's closed Mondays.

"Most important, everything is made in house," Castro explained. "The locals and the community have been really good to us. We do notice that."

Some of the most popular food items at the Minooka Basement Bar & Grill include the appetizers. The Steak Bites, featured in the photo at the top of this article, are beef tenderloin, with a spring mix, grilled portabello mushrooms, roasted red peppers and salsa ranch.

Another hit has been the Caprese Bruschetta as well as the Southwest egg rolls.

For burgers, you can build your own, go with the Sotano Burger or order the double smash burger.

Main entrées include: pot roast dinner, Mile High Meatloaf Dinner, grilled salmon, Jameson Chicken, Leo's Airline Chicken Breast or the grilled skirt steak.

The sandwiches are: pot roast sandwich, shrimp po'boy, chicken wrap, chicken Caesar wrap, grilled chicken Caprese, Whiskey Bacon Jam grilled cheese, BLT and the Minooka club. All the sandwiches come with fries.

Pastas come with garlic bread. They include: Cajun Chicken sausage, grilled Bruschetta chicken and also the Gordon's Shrimp Scampi.

"Our most famous appetizer is our steak bites," Castro exclaimed. "They're tenderloin tips. It's tenderloin. No cheap meat over here. People eat this as a meal, not just an appetizer."

From the cocktail menu, the Prickly Pear Margarita has been a crowd favorite. There's a classic Margarita, a Basement Old Fashioned, Moscow Mule and Paloma, among the many different alcoholic drinks offered at the Basement Bar.

Castro said the name Minooka Basement was perfect for his new restaurant-bar because as soon you enter the building, "this is a perfect basement. You walk right down, so that's why we just stood with the name," he remarked.

Castro said he wants everyone to know that he's trying to do his part to make downtown Minooka vibrant and bring more foot traffic to the area.

He is not trying to take away any business from the legendary Cookie's restaurant two doors away.

He believes that Minooka can thrive with the addition of more fine-dining opportunities that will attract people from the surrounding communities to visit.

"We're not here to compete, we're here to to help each other," he said. "There's enough business to go around."

The main restaurant and bar area for Minooka Basement can seat about 80 people.

"It's first come, first-serve. Our weekend dinners are very busy," Castro said. "And our dinner rush is very busy."