Oswego Village Board Approves Plans For New 'Dairy Barn' Creamery

OSWEGO, IL — The Village Board trustees voted unanimously on Tuesday night, Feb. 18, to approve the development of a new Oswego restaurant and ice creamery, the 'Dairy Barn.' A successor to the much-loved but very closed 'Dairy Hut,' the Dairy Barn will be located at 121 S. Main Street. Its proposed plans call for a much larger building than the one Dairy Hut occupied; a building shaped like, well, a dairy barn.

"The request would allow for the development of an approximately 4,200 square foot commercial building... the building will seat approximately 122 guests inside and an additional 48 guests outside on a porch," Community Development Director Rod Zenner said, describing the request for development approval before the board.

"The proposed building will be constructed with stone on the first story and board and batten vertical siding on the second floor with a high-ribbed metal roof. It will basically look like a barn," he added later.

The road leading to this approval stretches back to August of 2019, when the Dairy Hut ice cream shop closed its doors after 60 years in business. The property was purchased by Yorkville-based development firm Imperial Investments, who quickly announced their plans to demolish Dairy Hut and build the larger Dairy Barn on the site. Imperial's Director of Developments, Mike Mann, told a Patch reporter named Joe Ward in September, 2019 that he didn't want the story of Dairy Hut to end with its closure.

"I've been going there for 40 years," Mann told Ward in 2019. "When I heard the Dairy Hut was closing, I didn't want just anyone coming in and scooping it up."

Several months later, it seems Mann and Imperial Investments' plans might be turning tangible. They need only a final engineering approval before construction can begin, and Mann told Patch on Tuesday that he hopes the Dairy Barn will be open for business by Novermber 1 of this year.

Besides ice cream, Mann told village trustees on Tuesday that the Dairy Barn will also serve fast food fare. He described the restaurant as a 'QSR,' or quick service restaurant.

"In fact, we plan on a lot of carry out," Mann said. "There's not going to be servers, you're going to order your food; you can sit down and eat it there, you can take it to go, and of course... [it will] still have the ice cream service window outside right off the sidewalk there."

The Dairy Barn's initial hours of operation are anticipated to be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., but Mann said it's "absolutely" possible that the restaurant may eventually be open for breakfast hours as well. When 'eventually' could be, as Trustee Pam Parr eagerly wanted to know, Mann said depends on how well the public responds to the business. To that end, Mann said the Barn will also feature a stage for live entertainment and a large TV for playing cartoons.

"I think it will be a great place for families," he said.