Frankfort's Dancing Marlin Celebrates 10 Years Of Community Spirit

FRANKFORT, IL — As a south suburban native, Ray Konior has always held a special place in his heart for a sense of community and the good things that can come out of people working together for good.

So, 10 years after Konior and two other business partners opened Dancing Marlin in Frankfort, the trio has worked hard to make sure that the local steak and seafood restaurant has done its part to support local charitable organizations and those in need.

Over the past decade, Dancing Marlin has hosted countless fundraising efforts as a way of giving back to a tight-knit Frankfort community that has supported the local eatery. That has been especially true over the past three years when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic made operating a local restaurant a challenge in the face of the global health crisis.

Now, on the other side, Dancing Marlin has emerged stronger, Konior said — all without losing its community spirit that has made the restaurant a local favorite among Frankfort residents and visitors from neighboring municipalities.

“Especially as a small community, you have a responsibility to stay connected,” Konior told Patch this week. “You can look at businesses as competitors and I’ve always preached … ‘Don’t worry about your competitors — worry about yourself — and do what’s right and in the end, you’ll end up being a winner.

“And so, you do have a responsibility to the community because it is tight-knit.”

As Dancing Marlin celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year, it will host a Caribbean Canine fundraiser that will feature Caribbean food, cocktails and wine, raffles, and other activities on Aug. 26. Tickets for the event are $65 in advance and $85 at the door with all proceeds going to benefit the South Suburban Humane Society.

For Konior, the latest fundraiser is near and dear to his heart, along with that of his executive chef and business partner – all of whom are animal lovers. Because of the work that the shelter does in the south suburbs to provide care for animals that need it most, the charitable organization has become a favorite for Dancing Marlin, which has also contributed to a number of women’s organizations and community groups over the years such as Sleep In Heavenly Peace, the Suburban Service Group and the Boy Scouts of America.

Konior says as a restaurateur who survived a difficult stretch tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, he now wants to do more to help organizations like the local humane society, which he says handles hardships day in and day out and that often has more animals coming in than it can handle. That has compelled the owners of Dancing Marlin to continue to follow a mission of helping where they can.

The upcoming fundraiser is the latest effort for the restaurant to do its part in helping to raise money — and awareness — for organizations that residents of Frankfort and neighboring communities may not be aware of. By doing so, Konior says that residents have the chance to help those in need — and in this case, helping dogs that have been mistreated or abandoned while also helping to support a local organization that is doing such meaningful work.

The last 10 years have not only meant growing popularity for Dancing Marlin but have also seen growth in the relationship the restaurant has established with the Frankfort community. The restaurant has become known as a local business that cares about community organizations, which Konior says, has led many groups to seek out the restaurant in raising money for good causes.

In addition to hosting fundraisers, the restaurant has made monetary donations to local organizations and charities and has offered chef’s dinners for area charities simply as a way of helping people out. While the business has had to at times limit its charitable donations due to the high volume of requests it receives, Konior says the restaurant has tried to keep its focus on Frankfort and neighboring communities to keep its support as local as possible.

“To me, Frankfort is more of a homey community,” he said. “With the downtown center and the people who are here, there is more of a touchy-feely (sense) where you get to know people. But we benefit because (giving back) is our mission to be more than just a business.

“We’re just not bottom-line. You have to make money to survive obviously, but part of our mission is to share the wealth with people who work for us and people in the surrounding area.”

That support has continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the Dancing Marlin to add curb-side service when state mandates forced restaurants to close their dining rooms to customers due to health concerns.

Yet, even in changing the way it did business, Konior says the restaurant stayed true to itself and remained loyal to employees through difficult times. The restaurant “just hung on” during the height of the pandemic, Konior says, which changed the mentality of those who ran the business and those who were charged with keeping it going while it worked through various restrictions put in place by state health officials.

Despite the tough times, Dancing Marlin has come out on the other side, which puts increased meaning on occasions like a 10-year anniversary, Konior said.

“We got through it and the community helped immensely with that,” Konior told Patch. “What that made me feel is that, whatever we’ve been doing, we touched the community in a way that they care and they care about us, too.

“I’ve always believed that whatever effort you put in, you get rewarded later on and so whatever effort we put in (pre-COVID) in trying to embrace the community, they came right back at us – and there’s no question they did because we never missed a beat ….and we became stronger.”