After Buried Oil Tank Causes Financial Woes, Community Rallies Around Restaurant

GRAYSLAKE, IL — Mike Pruitt has always been a firm believer that it is better to work together than on his own, and that has led him to establish a business model for his Grayslake martini and wine bar that is built around supporting his community.

But after opening The Vine 16 years ago this week, Pruitt finds himself receiving help from the community he grew up in after a pair of costly obstacles he never saw coming has taken on a toll on the business he has worked so hard to expand and keep open over the years.

Pruitt’s business took about a $50,000 hit over the past month after a 1970s-era 1,000-gallon oil tank that was filled to the brim about found buried on The Vine's property by construction workers for a project that will expand the restaurant’s footprint. No one knew about the oil tank buried underneath the business, according to Pruitt.

Then, last week, Pruitt learned that the restaurant’s main sewer line was broken, which forced The Vine to close temporarily and threw its owner into an emotional tailspin like he’s never experienced.

But in the same way that The Vine has always been there to support Grayslake, the community has rallied around Pruitt’s business. A GoFundMe has been set up with a goal of $30,000 to help Pruitt offset the costs of the issues that have created so many headaches in recent days. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fundraising effort has collected more than $6,000 toward giving Pruitt a helping hand he has always been willing to expand to those around him.

But he admits having the shoe on the other foot has taken some getting used to.

“It’s humbling,” Pruitt told Patch on Wednesday. “It’s hard because having your feet in those shoes is tough, and it makes you tear up a little bit. But it definitely gives you hope to keep going.”

Pruitt, who moved to Grayslake at 14 and graduated from Grayslake Community High School, has always run his business in a way to offer assistance to others. From hosting community fundraisers like rib cooking contests, car shows, and bourbon and beer festivals, The Vine started helping raise about $500,000 a year for local not-for-profit organizations in 2012 and has only continued to grow in the years since.

The business has grown multiple times since opening in 2006 until the COVID-19 pandemic forced The Vine, like other small businesses, to pivot. The pandemic forced the restaurant and bar to close for indoor dining, which forced Pruitt and his staff to shift from a full-scale business to one that relied solely on takeout and delivery to survive.

At the same time, The Vine had to raise money to support a staff of 50-60 employees, which Pruitt was able to pay until a Payroll Protection Plan loan could be secured. The fundraising allowed Pruitt to pay his staff until furloughs became necessary as the pandemic that took such a toll on the restaurant industry continued.

Earlier this year, the expansion project that had been put on hold for four years finally started. But that’s when the discovery of the oil drum on a site that was once a gas station and the sewer line break turned everything upside down.

Workers discovered the oil drum while digging, which forced construction to stop immediately so that the drum could properly be removed, soil studies could be completed and other necessary testing could be done to make sure everything was safe to move forward with.

Pruitt characterized the entire ordeal as gut-wrenching, as no previous environmental or soil studies had ever shown any evidence that the oil tank was buried. In the past, four other tanks had been removed from beneath the ground. But when contractors were digging to put posts in for where the business’ new kitchen will go, they found the buried oil drum, which stopped everyone in their tracks.

“At first, you think it’s a joke,” Pruitt said of the discovery of the tank.

Since then, Pruitt has managed to keep his business open until the broken sewer line forced the restaurant to close. The Vine is typically closed on Sundays and Mondays, which provided a bit of extra time to deal with the issue. Pruitt and his friends jumped into action as workers had to dig up the restaurant’s floors and dig a 10-foot hole and move an estimated 20 tons of sand to get to the pipe so that necessary repairs could be made.

Pruitt said the restaurant is still on pace for a spring grand opening, but he admits that the events of the past few weeks have taken a toll in the form of 12-to-16-hour workdays. The hardships have come after a COVID-19 pandemic that stripped the business of much of its previous nightlife bar business, and that has changed what the Vine’s business now looks like.

Since then, the war in Ukraine has forced food costs to skyrocket while supply chains are disrupted. Now, with the most recent struggles, Pruitt has been forced to endure what’s been among the toughest chapters of his business’ story.

But through it all, Pruitt has seen a community he has grown to be part of surrounding him with the support that he appreciates in ways he sometimes struggles to put into words. Yet, despite the tough times— he has survived, Pruitt has watched his business change over the past two years and knows that it likely won't ever quite be the same, although he counts himself among those small businesses that survived the pandemic's hardships.

“I opened a restaurant to be able to socialize and talk to people and do what I love, and that got taken away from us (with the pandemic),” Pruitt told Patch.

“You lost that romance of being in the restaurant industry and talking to tables (of customers) and seeing people without masks.”

Pruitt sees his current difficulties as a temporary setback. Thanks to the assistance that continues to roll in from his fellow restaurateurs and the community — including a fundraiser on Saturday at The Fogcutter in Lake Villa — Pruitt can see the light at the end of the tunnel but knows things might be different if not for those around him.

While the feeling of being the beneficiary of such support is still new for Pruitt, he accepts it knowing that others he has helped in the past have done the same.

“(Hardships) are temporary, and we’re lucky to have a lot of great people in the community that share the opinions we have about helping others,” Pruitt said. “Now, it’s coming back to us and we’re thankful for that.

“It’s a good feeling. I’m not going to say it’s not amazing. It’s definitely humbling. The last couple of last years, you start to feel like you’ve missed people that you’ve done stuff with, and you start to wonder if they’re still there …but to have people reach out and help not just me, but me and my staff is definitely humbling and gives you the motivation to keep going.”

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