Home Care In Darien, IL

The club says it's embarrassed by its restaurant, while the restaurant owner accuses the club of interfering with its business.

|Updated Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 8:49 am CT

DARIEN, IL – The owners of the two businesses at Carriage Greens Country Club in Darien don't get along. But they continue to work near each other.

A couple of months ago, the owners of Carriage Greens Country Club tried to force out the company that runs the Sandtrap Grill and banquet facility at its club.

In August, employees of the company, Carriage Greens F and B LLC, were told that the operators of a new restaurant were taking over.

But Heidi Revelis, the owner of F and B, has yet to leave, saying the club is breaching its contract with her. Now she is seeking a contract extension through 2029.

The country club's owners, Brian and Adriana Broderick, are mincing few words about their view of Revelis.

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In a statement to Patch on Monday, they said they were "embarrassed" to be associated with the restaurant and banquet department as they currently stand. They did not give specifics.

Through a public records request with the city of Darien, Patch obtained the country club's lawsuit last month to evict Revelis as well as her counterclaim. (Darien became involved because of a liquor license dispute between the parties.)

Both sides claim the other owes hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In an affidavit, Revelis contended the Brodericks have sought to undercut her business.

She accuses them of eliminating information about her services on the club's Facebook page and on a major wedding planning website.

Revelis also said the club has allowed golfers to bring their own food and beverages and use her leased premises. And she asserted the club has redirected customers away from her reservation system and booked events in competition. She provided a document in which the club appeared to do just that.

Her lawsuit also revealed a letter sent in late August to her company's employees. It said the operators of a new restaurant were "excited" to announce that Sandtrap was transitioning to On Par Sports Bar & Grill.

On Par's representatives asked the employees to fill out paperwork and informed them they could continue wearing the same uniform.

"We apologize for the abrupt change, but due to legal reasons, we were not able to communicate with the current staff until now," the On Par representatives said. "Most importantly, all of you will remain employed if you choose while we make the transition and get to know each other."

In their statement to Patch, the Brodericks said, "It is of utmost importance for readers of this article to know that the point of this eviction is to upgrade the facility of Carriage Greens and the management to levels never seen before."

The club's lawsuit said Revelis has been "unjustly enriched" with $658,433, including for rent, sales taxes, website costs and interest.

Revelis' counterclaim said the club owes her company $608,378 and that she does not owe for rent.

She pointed to offsets on the rent such as $42,000 in food and beverages that she provided to the Brodericks, their family and friends. She also noted $550,378 in charges that the club collected for the restaurant's food and beverages for golf outings.

Revelis' lawsuit also contended the country club pocketed net video gambling proceeds in violation of the lease.

She further alleged the club falsely informed vendors she was going out of business. In a letter included in the lawsuit, one vendor said club owner Adriana Broderick notified the vendor on Sept. 1 that Revelis would leave in 30 days.

In recent times, the lawsuit said, unusual things have happened – computer cables cut, police called to evict Revelis, urinals clogged with cement, bathroom water pressure turned off and destruction of a printer delivered to the pro shop.

Revelis' lawyer, Fred Roth, told Patch that club owner Brian Broderick at one point offered Revelis $15,000 to walk away.

"She doesn't want to entertain that," Roth said in an interview. "She believes that she is owed money and wants to continue the operation. She appreciates the support from the community."

He said the club keeps changing its story on what it claims Revelis owes.

"We have been consistent with the information that we have provided," Roth said. "We think their attempts to interrupt or interfere with the business is a violation of the terms of the lease."

In their statement, the club's owners said they would never disappoint or cancel any events regardless of who booked them.

"We have been doing this since 1980, and we plan on keeping the tradition going strong," the owners said.

No trial date has been set.

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This follows vulgar messages that the owner sent to a former alderman.

|Updated Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 12:12 pm CT

DARIEN, IL – Darien's mayor is keeping a high-profile bar owner on a city committee, despite the owner's vulgar messages to a former alderman.

In an email to Patch on Tuesday, Mayor Joseph Marchese said he and City Administrator Bryon Vana met with Q Bar owner Robert Taft last week.

This was after Taft private-messaged former Alderman Tom Chlystek on social media and suggested Chlystek take his own life. Taft also called Chlystek a "f------ loser" and Chlystek's wife a "pig." And the bar owner bragged that he made a lot more money than Chlystek.

In a later email to Patch, Taft, a member of the city's Economic Development Committee, said he apologized for his comments.

He also said he was the victim of ongoing harassment from Chlystek, though he provided no details. Chlystek denied that was the case.

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In his email, Marchese said it appeared Taft and Chlystek had a "significant history."

"After speaking to Mr. Taft regarding this history, and taking into consideration the contributions he has made to the Darien community, I have decided to have him continue in his position as a member of our Economic Development Committee," Marchese said.

Taft sent his vulgar messages a few hours after he and Chlystek took opposite positions on video gambling during a Downers Grove Village Board meeting. Taft favored such gambling, while Chlystek opposed it.

In his Downers Grove speech, Chlystek painted a grim picture of video gambling's effects on Darien. He said he regretted his vote allowing it, but the city later said the vote occurred before Chlystek took office in 2015.

While Marchese refrained from criticizing Taft's messages, he took exception to Chlystek's speech about video gambling. He did not identify Chlystek by name, but referred to a former official who spoke at another town's board meeting.

"His statements, filled with gross generalizations and inaccuracies, painted a very negative picture of our wonderful city," Marchese said in the city's weekly newsletter. "It is a shame that someone whose role included promoting the City of Darien has chosen to disparage a community he called home for so many years."

At Monday's City Council meeting, resident Brian Liedtke, a council critic who used to belong to city committees, took Darien officials to task for failing to denounce Taft.

He said the city issued a "public condemnation of a former elected official who served his community while being silent against the abhorrent comments of a business leader who still serves on a committee today."

Taft has played a role in local causes, including Darien Fest. Chlystek himself acknowledged Taft's contributions last week.

On Thursday, the Economic Development Committee meets for the first time since Taft's controversy. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The public is allowed to speak during the meeting.

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He said the city "screwed up" by allowing such gambling. But Darien officials said the alderman wasn't on the council for the gambling vote.

|Updated Wed, Nov 1, 2023 at 1:14 pm CT

DARIEN, IL – Former Darien Alderman Tom Chlystek told Downers Grove officials last week that he regretted his vote to allow video gambling in Darien.

Chlystek, who served as an alderman for eight years, urged the Downers Grove Village Board to oppose such gambling, which he said hurt Darien's reputation.

Chlystek spoke at the same meeting as video gambling supporter Robert Taft, owner of Q Bars in Darien, Downers Grove and Aurora. Hours later, Taft sent Chlystek vulgar emails, for which Taft later apologized.

They were among dozens of residents speaking about video gambling, with the Downers Grove board yet to decide on the issue.

In his comments, Chlystek told Downers Grove officials that Darien approved gambling at first for a couple of businesses.

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But then the Darien City Council expanded gambling, with the intention of avoiding the charge of picking winners and losers, Chlystek said.

As a result, more businesses approached the city with "sob stories" and aldermen would feel bad for them, he said.

"Where we screwed up in Darien is by allowing gaming. We sort of changed the ecosystem," said Chlystek, who moved to Downers Grove after losing his bid for re-election in April. "This year, we had a Smoke Bank come in. Why? Because if you game, that's the same demographic that is more likely to drink. It's the same demographic that is likely to buy tobacco."

He continued, "So for me as a new resident here, it's not the business owner. It's not the revenue. It's how are you going to change your town, and you can't control it. Trust me. We tried controlling it. We just couldn't."

He named a few businesses, including Q Bar, that are near Darien's gateways that have video gambling.

"Eventually, some of us were embarrassed being in Darien, that we allowed this to come in, just for a couple of bucks," Chlystek said.

Darien's response

In response to Chlystek's comments, City Administrator Bryon Vana and Joseph Marchese released a statement to Patch on Wednesday. They said video gambling has had no negative impact on the city. They said allowing video gambling was a way to keep Darien competitive with other towns that allow such an activity.

"It was disappointing to hear the disparaging remarks Tom made about the City of Darien," the officials said. "We don’t recall ever hearing Tom talk about video gaming issues. Staff looked back at the goal-setting survey Tom completed in November of 2022, and he never made mention of concerns related to video gaming. During Tom’s negative comments about Darien, he provided no factual or statistical basis for his comments about video gaming."

They disagreed with Chlystek's assertion that the city "lost control" of gambling when, in fact, they said the ordinance has maintained tight control of the activity. They said a number of new restaurants have come in seeking liquor licenses without requesting gambling.

"The truth is Tom was not even on the city council when the gaming ordinance was approved in 2013," they said. "Tom also inaccurately commented that video gaming started with two locations and then spread from there."

Instead, the officials said when the gambling ordinance was approved, any retail establishment pouring, mixing or otherwise serving liquor on premises was eligible to have video gambling.

"In all our years of public service we have never seen a council member talk highly of a community, lose an aldermanic election, and then talk so negatively about the community he used to live in," the mayor and city administrator said. "You would have to talk with Tom about the motivation for his comments and his inaccurate comments."

A gambling advocate's case

Taft, who spoke earlier in the meeting, said Downers Grove residents had waited two years for a decision from the village.

All six of the board's commissioners, he said, supported video gambling in their campaigns. He said it was their job to vote in line with the positions they took before voters decided.

He described two commissioners as being the strongest no votes. Both of them, he said, claimed the overwhelming majority of residents oppose video gambling.

At the same time, Taft said, those same commissioners voted against the will of the unanimous local opposition to a recent zoning request.

"They are at best disingenuous or more likely hypocritical as they have ignored the public's opinion in the past," Taft said.

After state and local gambling taxes, Darien's Q Bar made nearly $440,000 from gambling in 2022.

Darien has 11 video gambling establishments. In 2022, Darien received $308,891 in video gambling taxes, including $33,107 from Q Bar.

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The city eyed restaurants, sports and hardware stores for the site, an official said.

|Updated Thu, Oct 5, 2023 at 9:58 am CT

DARIEN, IL – It's clear neighbors don't want an auto body shop in the old CVS Pharmacy at Lemont Road and 83rd Street.

They are suggesting alternatives such as a restaurant, a brewery or a place for sports such as bocce ball, pickleball or volleyball.

Such ideas have already been considered, an official said Wednesday.

Dan Gombac, the city's municipal services director, spoke at a meeting of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. That body later rejected a Gerber Collision & Glass shop for the old CVS, following residents' comments against it.

Officials said the city understands frustrations with a vacant building at a key intersection. The pharmacy closed in April 2022.

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For a time, the idea of two restaurants in the building was on the table, Gombac said. But the required investment to make that a reality was $750,000, he said.

"The owners are not in a financial position to be able to front that," Gombac said. "The restaurant owners would not have backing from any bank in regards to a loan for that amount."

As for a recreational facility, he said, the property lacks the parking and the building's ceiling is not high enough.

An urgent care facility? The city didn't consider that the best use for the site, Gombac said. And he acknowledged it wouldn't provide the sales tax money for the city that other businesses could.

He said Ace Hardware was also on the table.

"Ace Hardware only wanted to come in at a certain square foot price. Without a subsidy, the deal was not worth it," Gombac said.

He said the city has been working with Mike Peirce of the Schaumburg-based Storebuild commercial real estate firm.

"Mike has been very courteous and professional with us to say, 'Hey, how can we get something to work for the community?'" Gombac said. "That's why we are here today."

Storebuild took part in the presentation for Gerber to use the CVS building.

The commission voted 7-1 against the proposal. The City Council has the final say.

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DARIEN, Ill. (WLS) -- The 110th City of Chicago Christmas Tree, a 45 foot Colorado blue spruce donated by the De La Cruz family of Darien.

After watching it grow for 37 years, the De La Cruz family watched their beloved Colorado Blue Spruce come down,

"I feel a little sad, it feels like something is missing now," she said.

This is the City of Chicago's 2023 Christmas Tree, picked after daughter Abby De La Cruz wrote a letter to the city nominating it and sharing her family's story.

Abby's parents immigrated here from the Philippines, both healthcare workers. They met in Chicago, married and went on to work towards the American Dream: a house and a family.

"They raised us with their values and their traditions," she said.

One of those traditions was decorating this tree year after year, until it got too big to handle, so they decided to give it up to the city they love and say gave them so much.

"I am so proud so proud out tree was selected," Zenaida De La Cruz said.

"I was starting to talk, uh, like whispering to the tree saying I hate to see you go but you're going for a good cause," Efren Zenaida said.

There were 100 applicants this year, but this tree stood out most of all. And it's an exciting moment not just for this family, but for city workers that were part of the whole process:

"I feel so honored that the city and that everybody is still so excited to do this and have this moment I think in the times that we are in having these bright moments really important for our community," Neil Heitz, director of production for the City of Chicago, said.

So what will happen to this empty spot now?

It won't stay empty for too long. Darien's Mayor Joseph Marchese said the southwest suburb plans to provide the family with a new tree of their choosing to watch grow for many more years to come.

The tree will be moved Friday and cared for over the weekend and then moved into Millennium Park on Monday where it will then be decorated and lit up on November 17.

The tree-lighting ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. The ceremony will have fireworks as well as performances by DJ TREW, Meagan McNeal, Broadway in Chicago's Betty Boop, Chicago Dance Crash, Walt Whitman and the Soul Children of Chicago, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance's 2023 National Cuatro Festival with featured artists from Puerto Rico - Emma Colon Zayas, Maribel Delgado, Fabiola Mendez, with singer Celenia Sanchez Mata, and Santa and Mrs. Laura Lynn Claus.

He questioned why a man had not taken his own life. He called the man's wife "a pig."

|Updated Thu, Oct 26, 2023 at 4:51 pm CT

DARIEN, IL – Darien bar owner Robert Taft got vulgar on Facebook this week, questioning why a rival hadn't taken his own life.

On Wednesday, a Downers Grove commissioner published screenshots of what he said were Taft's "abhorrent" Facebook posts directed at an opponent of video gambling.

Taft owns Q Bar in Darien. Q Bar locations are also in Downers Grove and Aurora.

Asked by phone Thursday about the posts, Taft said they were taken out of context. Then he hung up.

In a later text to Patch, Taft said he has a multi-year history with the other person.

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I was asking him why he won’t end the ongoing harassment of me in my message," Taft said. "This relates to prior history in another town, not in regards to video gaming. It was sent due to frustration of years of feeling harassed."

During the last day, he appears to have pulled the plug on his Facebook page. Patch has communicated with Taft before through Facebook.

The posts, which contained grammatical errors, were sent about 1 a.m.

In one post, Taft said to the other person, "Your a bitch and your wife is a pig."

A couple of minutes later, Taft added, "Your such a f------ loser. How do you not end it? Seriously, the funny part is I make more in a month than you do in a year and I find that amazing. What a f------ loser you are."

Greg Hosé, a Downers Grove Village Board commissioner, noted Taft spoke in favor of video gambling at a Village Board meeting earlier this week.

"Over the last month or so, Downers Grove has had a spirited debate over whether or not to permit video gambling," Hosé said on Facebook. "Passions have run high but that is never an excuse for disgusting and abusive behavior."

Hosé continued, "This abhorrent behavior makes it very easy to decide where I’ll spend my dining and entertainment dollars. Apparently, he’s doing just fine without them."

In Darien, Taft appears to have a good relationship with City Hall. In 2021, officials said Taft worked with them when the city received complaints about noise from the bar. He also sits on the city's Economic Development Committee.

Darien Fest, a major fundraiser for the local chamber of commerce, has been held in front of Q Bar before.

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More from Darien

A local high school district reported one of the highest rates in the area.

Posted Thu, Dec 7, 2023 at 8:38 am CT|

DARIEN, IL – All three Darien elementary school districts reported teacher absenteeism rates that were below the state average last school year.

The state measures the percentage of teachers who are absent for at least 10 days.

Locally, Darien District 61 was the lowest, at 26 percent who missed at least 10 days. Center Cass District 66 and Cass District 63 were at 30 percent and 33 percent, respectively, according to the Illinois Report Card website.

Statewide, the absenteeism rate was 36 percent.

Hinsdale High School District 86 had one of the highest rates in the area, with 47 percent of teachers absent at least 10 days. Downers Grove High School District 99 was lower, at 33 percent.

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some places have considerably lower rates such as Burr Ridge-based Pleasantdale District 107 (0 percent) and Western Springs District 101 (10 percent).

Under state law, the rate does not include absences for professional development, leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, long-term disability or parental leave.

The U.S. Department of Education sees teacher attendance as a leading indicator of student achievement. Teachers with regular attendance provide continuity of instruction and attention to individual students, according to the Illinois Report Card.

"The National Bureau of Economic Research has shown that when teachers are absent for 10 days or more, student outcomes decrease significantly," the report card said. "Teacher absence results in loss of instruction time for students, as well as financial concerns to the district when substitutes must be employed."

Source: Illinois Report Card, 2022-2023

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Neighbors were angry after the council's split vote. The mayor said the city needed an "Amazon-proof" business.

DARIEN, IL – In a split vote, Darien aldermen on Monday approved a controversial auto body shop, despite neighbors who protested it.

Now, a Gerber Collision & Glass shop, part of an Elmhurst-based chain with hundreds of locations, plans to set up shop in the old CVS Pharmacy in Darien. It is southeast of Lemont Road and 83rd Street.

After the vote, most of the audience left. Some expressed anger.

"Good riddance!" one man said.

Another yelled, "All should be voted out!" He was unclear whether that warning applied to aldermen who opposed the project.

A woman chimed in, "You're screwing your own businesses here," referring to two local mom-and-pop body shops.

Residents had spoken out at two previous committee meetings. They said the body shop was a bad fit for the neighborhood, noting it would be next to houses and a senior complex.

They said the business would be unsightly and cause pollution and noise.

Gerber Collision & Glass shop plans to set up shop in the old CVS Pharmacy in Darien. It is southeast of Lemont Road and 83rd Street. (David Giuliani/Patch)

During the meeting, Darien's municipal services director, Dan Gombac, said the city required Gerber to put up a six-foot brick wall to hide wrecked cars. That would prevent the shop from looking like a junkyard, he said.

But residents doubted Gerber would always put wrecked cars in the walled space. Sometimes, they said, the business would not have enough space.

The neighbors pointed to other Gerber locations where wrecked cars were parked for all to see. And they spoke about Gerber's D+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

They also noted no resident had come forward to support the project at any of the meetings. That was true until late in Monday's session.

City Treasurer Michael Coren, who lives a few blocks away, said he supported the shop. He then spoke about the neighborhood's history, saying Darien once envisioned its downtown at Lemont and 83rd, but no longer.

With retail dying, he said, the area has turned more industrial in recent years, in both Darien and Woodridge.

He said he was hearing some of the same not-in-my-backyard sentiments that he heard when he was on the city's zoning commission years ago.

However, Alderman Gerry Leganski said the body shop was a "square peg in a round hole." He said he visited other Gerber locations recently and couldn't find a shop like the one proposed for Darien – next to houses and a senior complex.

Alderman Joe Kenny also opposed the project, focusing on the possible pollution. He said the city was four years removed from the closure of Sterigenics, the Willowbrook factory that authorities said emitted cancer-causing pollutants.

"People on this side of town are saying, 'Now, here we go again. We have something in our backyard.' What's their mental capacity going to be knowing that's there?" Kenny said.

Alderwoman Mary Sullivan said the city should strive to protect residents' welfare, safety and property values. As such, she said she opposed the project.

But Alderman Eric Gustafson, whose Ward 6 includes the neighborhood in question, supported it. He said he was most concerned for residents of the senior complex, Myers Commons.

But he said a body shop may be a better alternative than other uses such as a bar. (In an email Tuesday, Gustafson told Patch he spoke to Myers Commons' leadership team and that it agreed something else could be much worse than Gerber. "None of their residents spoke against the project," he said.)

Gustafson said he had heard "extremely positive things" about Gerber.

"I wish we had three different businesses to pick from of what to go in the CVS building," the alderman said.

He said he had communicated with many opponents of the body shop.

"I've also talked to a lot of residents who don't oppose it," he said.

When audience members disagreed such residents exist, he said. "There are a lot of people who are not going to come and speak in this kind of forum, but when I'm out walking and they're calling, they are in agreement with this type of business."

The council voted 4-3 for the shop. Aldermen Gustafson, Ted Schauer, Ralph Stompanato and Thomas Belczak were for it. Against were Leganski, Sullivan and Kenny.

At the end of the meeting, Mayor Joseph Marchese said the body shop was a tough decision for aldermen, especially Gustafson, who represented the neighborhood.

"We needed to find a business that was Amazon-proof," the mayor said. "Gerber seemed to fit that."

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DARIEN, IL – An overwhelming majority of teachers in Darien's school districts received the top ratings last year, according to state data.

One district's numbers have been unavailable on the Illinois Report Card website for the last four years.

Last school year, the biggest of the local districts, Darien District 61, placed 99 percent of its 111 teachers in the "excellent" or "proficient" categories as a result of evaluations. The other ratings are "needing improvement" and "unsatisfactory."

In 2019 and 2021, 100 percent of District 61's teachers fell into the top categories. In 2018, 2020 and 2022, the numbers ranged from 97 to 99 percent.

For Cass District 63, all of its 60 teachers rated "excellent" or "proficient" from 2018 to 2023, except 2020, when the number was 97 percent.

The state has no data listed for Center Cass District 66 since 2019, when 100 percent of teachers received the top ratings.

In response to a Patch inquiry, Center Cass Superintendent Andrew Wise said the district has a phone call into the state about the data, which he said the district has.

In Hinsdale High School District 86, 100 percent of its nearly 300 teachers got the top ratings every year since 2018, except in 2022, when it was 99 percent.

Statewide, 97 percent of teachers were in the top two categories last school year.

Many districts have placed all of their teachers in the top ratings. In 2021, Chicago Public Schools did so for all of its nearly 22,000 teachers.

In 2010, the state enacted a law requiring schools to have performance evaluation systems. Teachers without tenure must be evaluated every year. Tenured teachers must go through the same process every two years, unless they are in the bottom two categories.

Last year, Wirepoints' Ted Dabrowski questioned the state's rating system.

"It’s important to note that the inflated teacher evaluation problem is not limited to the Chicago Public Schools," he said. "It’s rampant everywhere. Across the entire state, 98.8 percent of all teachers in 2021 were evaluated as proficient or excellent. Try and square that up with the fact that in 2021, less than one-third of the state’s 1.9 million students could read or do English at grade level."