A brand-new Mexican restaurant is planning to debut in The Anvil Club’s home, located at 309 Meier St.
Although the sale is pending, the iconic East Dundee restaurant will close its doors for good on July 30, according to the Daily Herald. Colin Hegarty, who owns Maple + Hash in West Dundee and Pingree Grove, proposes opening a family-friendly restaurant serving traditional Mexican food with a bar featuring high-end tequilas. The unnamed restaurant is hoping to open before the end of the year. The closure comes a decade after Otto Engineering President Tom Roeser bought the restaurant, which struggled to recover from the pandemic.
“The Anvil Club is really unique … and I’m very disappointed that it’s now going to be gone,” Roeser said. “But what East Dundee has in that area is pretty special, too. And we’re just going to add to it and invest there.”
The restaurant opened in 1956 as a private dinner club and quickly became popular, gaining 8,000 members in its prime. When Roeser acquired the restaurant in 2013, he invested about $1 million in renovations and changed some rules, hoping to revive the spot. Hegarty plans to incorporate many of The Anvil Club’s artifacts in the new restaurant, including brothel doors with a bullet hole left from a gunshot reportedly meant for Al Capone. Roeser will help Hegarty with the new venture.
“I think it will be a great addition to the community and to downtown life in East Dundee,” Hegarty tells the Daily Herald.
