Brad Steele and Matt Brickson bought Onyx Bar and Grill with plans to transform it into The Parks: Cimino’s Kitchen. They’re pictured on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in front of the future restaurant in Machesney Park. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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MACHESNEY PARK — Matt Brickson and Brad Steele forged a friendship after meeting inside Onyx Bar and Grill more than a decade ago.
Now, as business partners, they’ve bought the bar where they met and are transforming the space into a new family-friendly restaurant centered on Cimino’s Italian cuisine.
The Parks: Cimino’s Kitchen, 1001 West Lane Road, is the new bar and restaurant coming to the former Onyx, which closed after their purchase last month so they can focus on overhauling the space for the new venture. The goal is to open roughly around the end of September.
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“This area, (Illinois) 173, is missing those sit-down places,” said Brickson, a plumber with Local 23 who with Steele is making his first foray into the bar and restaurant business. “You have Chili’s and maybe Buffalo Wild Wings that are your sit-down, but there’s nothing Italian where you can go sit down and relax.”
That’s where Cimino’s comes in.
Sam Cimino, who owns Cimino’s Little Italy in Freeport, was looking to reenter the Parks market, Brickson and Steele said. The Cimino family also has restaurants in Winnebago, Pecatonica and Durand.
The Parks: Cimino’s Kitchen, 1001 West Lane Road in Machesney Park, is a new restaurant coming to the former Onyx Bar and Grill Space. The goal is to open by late September. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Steele said he and Sam Cimino had talked about partnering on another project. When the option to take over Onyx came up, they saw it is the right opportunity to pair their businesses together.
“They haven’t been in the area in 20 years yet we’re still getting comments online (saying), I haven’t been there in years or I used to love Cimino’s or our whole family used to go eat one meal a week there,” said Steele, a general contractor who also runs his own insurance agency. “They’re an older generation now, but they’re still talking about it online.”
The restaurant will open with a limited menu that includes pizza and pasta, wings and Mama Strips, which is its take on Chicken George. They also plan to add more specialty co*cktails and martinis as part of the drink menu.
The front section of The Parks will have a bar atmosphere with plush leather high-top seating and couches. Toward the back will be the restaurant seating geared toward the whole family. The new look will be industrial chic, Steele said.
“It’s going to be that upscale environment that if you yell because somebody misses a field goal, it’s going to be OK,” Steele said. “But it’s going to have that upscale feel where if you came in here with a suit and tie you’re not going to feel out of place.”
The new owners are completely revamping the main bar and adding TVs that take advantage of the tall ceilings. There will be an 85-inch TV behind the new center bar and flanked on each side will be TVs that stack from the bar to the ceiling.
“They’re 14-foot ceilings and we’re utilizing all of the space,” Brickson said. “We’re trying to draw your attention up to use the volume of the room. There’s not many places around that have that large of a focal point in their bar.”
Brickson and Steele bought Onyx from previous owner Billy Ni last month with plans to turn it into their own enterprise.
While they still plan to have a lively bar atmosphere, they say the new version is more focused on food and a family restaurant environment.
“Bringing kids in here is going to be 100% totally OK. I have three kids who are going to be coming in here, almost every single day,” Steele said. “He’s got four kids that will be coming here almost every single day.”
Follow | The Parks: Cimino’s Kitchen
Where: 1001 West Lane Road, Machesney Park
Facebook: Go HERE
This article is byKevin Haas. Email him atkhaas@rockrivercurrent.comor follow him on X at@KevinMHaasor Instagram@thekevinhaasand Threads@thekevinhaas
