Village: Steak, Seafood Restaurant Slated for Former Baci Building

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Garrigan said restaurateur Darryl Sams is looking to purchase the site for $175,000, which is $50,000 more than the village paid for it in 2012.


"The village board is very happy about that," Garrigan said. Trustees are scheduled to vote on the sale of the building, 24018 W. Lockport St., at a special meeting on Monday, Aug. 26.

Since buying the building, the village has spent $41,250 on roof repairs and $26,240 on mold mitigation. Garrigan said the investment was made to save the historic building and get it back on the tax rolls.

"We did what we had to do to secure the building," he said. "We didn't want to be the long-term custodians of the building — we wanted to bring in a restaurant, something to bring people downtown."

He believes the Creole-influenced seafood and steak house will do just that.

"It's sounds like it's really exciting what [Sams] is doing," Garrigan said. "The bottom line is, this is exactly what the village wanted."

Garrigan said that Sams, former head chef at Chicago's Ambria restaurant and current owner of three other eateries, plans to serve fresh fish, lobster, crab and steaks. 

"He wants to do a steak and seafood white-tablecloth restaurant," Garrigan said.

Sams plans to open the restaurant by Thanksgiving, according to Garrigan, but some repairs and restoration work must be completed before that can happen.

Garrigan said the potential owner plans to restore the ceilings and stained glass windows, in addition to making ADA improvements to the site. The potential owner is also having a saltwater aquarium built for the site, he said.

"He has his contractors lined up. He really has his act together," Garrigan said, admitting that Sams has set a "very ambitious schedule" for the project. "With enough money, anything's possible," Garrigan added.

Built in 1868 as a Unitarian Church, the 5,500-square-foot site was eventually sold to the Catholic church and was the original home of St. Mary Immaculate. It remained a place of worship until the 1970s, when it was converted into a restaurant. Since then, it's been home to eateries including The Sanctuary, Mandy's Steakhouse and, most recently, Baci.

A Plainfield mainstay for 20 years, Baci closed in November 2010. Its owners, Frank and John Perri Jr., originally listed the property for $759,000, but it failed to sell, and the village snapped it up for $125,000 last year.

Related stories:

• Village in Talks to Purchase, Repair Closed Baci Restaurant
• Village OKs Roof Repairs for Former Baci Site
• Village Seeks Buyer for Former Baci Building