SHOREWOOD, IL — When you drive along Route 59 and Route 52 across the village of Shorewood, one thing you don’t notice are empty, boarded up businesses. Throughout Shorewood, the business community is thriving and storefronts don’t sit vacant very long.
This past year, 2023, will be remembered as a remarkable year for Shorewood in terms of economic development. The village has welcomed the addition of at least a half dozen new restaurants. In 2022, Shorewood welcomed a Raising Cane’s fast-food chicken tenders restaurant along Route 52, plus a Biggby Coffee shop across the street from Raising Cane’s.
The most recent addition for Shorewood, Corrigan’s Pub, has been the topic of almost daily conversation in the Facebook group started by Brian Bessler, the Joliet Area Bar & Restaurant Guide. First-time customers of Corrigan’s Pub continue to share photos of their meals on Facebook.
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Here’s a look back at the new places that opened across Shorewood in 2023:
Corrigan’s Pub, opened December 12,
Find out what's happening in Shorewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Replacing Skooter’s Roadhouse, which closed in August, Corrigan’s Pub said it intends to establish its reputation based on its Irish-themed cooking.
Some of its main entrées include: 14 oz ribeye $32, Shepard’s Pie $16, 12 oz pork chop $16, corned beef and cabbage $18, full slab BBQ ribs $23, Santa Fe chicken $14, pot roast $17, fish n chips $14 and pan seared salmon $20.
In September, Shorewood Village Administrator Aaron Klima told Joliet Patch that country music will no longer to be the focus of the soon-to-be opening Shorewood bar and restaurant at 700 West Jefferson St. He said the village believes the Corrigan’s concept will be a positive attraction for the community.
“It’s going to be more family friendly, more TVs, and they will still have musicians,” Klima said. “We’re anxious to see what it’s going to be. It’s an Irish bar concept.”
West 52 BBQ, opened October 4
West 52 BBQ fills the vacancy at the original Casa Maya restaurant along Jefferson Street in Shorewood. West 52 BBQ is in the Park Place Plaza, and the address is 805 West Jefferson St.
During the past four years, owner Troy Johnson ran Country Blaze BBQ restaurant in Channahon along Route 6 near Ridge Road. He closed that restaurant at the end of August when his lease expired, and announced plans to reopen in Shorewood, now calling it West 52 BBQ, since he’s located along U.S. 52.
West 52 BBQ is closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and open Wednesday through Saturday. Johnson’s rib tips, pictured below, have become one of his most popular takeout selections from his growing customer base.
Pizza For U, reopened its Shorewood takeout restaurant site on November 13,
On September 27, Patch published a story alerting everyone that Pizza For U in Shorewood was now closed forever, because that’s what the company anticipated when they made the announcement.
Then, out of nowhere, Chirag “CP” Patel entered the picture.
A native of England, whose family moved to the United States when he was a teenager, Patel said he graduated from college in South Carolina. He has lived in Plainfield the past four years after previously living in Aurora. He subsequently acquired the Shorewood Pizza For U and reopened the business in the middle of November.
“It’s a staple in the community,” Patel told Patch “Once I found out about it being closed, I had to get it. It was a no-brainer. I always wanted a food place, and this just seemed like perfect.”
Cheesecakes By James, opened July 28
One of the busiest intersections in all of Will County, Route 59 and Route 52, is turning into a lunch, dinner and dessert destination for area motorists now that James “The Mad Baker” Sankey has opened his second Cheesecakes By James restaurant.
Sankey’s new location is just a few feet away from the Chicken-N-Spice restaurant and just a few more feet the other direction from the Pizza For U takeout restaurant.
At 10 a.m. on July 28, Cheesecakes By James Shorewood opened his doors in Shorewood.
“It’s been very good and people have been messaging me, telling me they’re bringing their friends,” Sankey responded.
Sankey had 11 different cheesecake flavors in stock for his grand opening. These included: plain, strawberry, cherry, turtle, blueberry, raspberry, pineapple run chada, keylime, Oreo chocolate chip, triple chocolate and Reese’s PB Cup.
He sells his cheesecake by the slice or the full cake.
Pizza Ranch opens along the frontage road near Interstate 55, on July 17
In the middle of July, several hundred inquisitive Joliet area food enthusiasts traveled to 19735 NE Frontage Road in Shorewood for Monday’s grand opening of the area’s very first Pizza Ranch.
The Iowa-based restaurant chain chose Shorewood to open its first location in Will County. Most of the Pizza Ranch restaurants are scattered across Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Pizza Ranch is all about the buffet. There’s specialty pizzas. One-topping pizzas. Desserts such as cactus bread, and, as the menu proclaims, “The Country’s Best Chicken.”
You can find cheesy ranch stix, breadsticks, chicken fries, mashed potatoes and gravy, ranch potato wedges, corn, coleslaw, green beans, mac and cheese and biscuits. There’s a full salad bar, too.
2 Teas Boba Drink opens May 19 along Route 59 is across from Home Depot and McDonald’s
After several months of interior building renovations, May 19 marked the opening for Shorewood’s new 2 Teas Boba Drink.
Dozens of customers patronized the new business by 3 p.m. Teas Boba is directly across the street from the McDonald’s restaurant and the Home Depot. The building address is 857 Center Court Unit K.
“The coffee bean is imported from Vietnam, and it’s 100 percent organic,” explained Vu Tran, whose wife, Kimmie Luong, is owner of 2 Teas Boba Drink, along with her cousin, Jessie Vu.
2 Teas Boba specializes in: fruit smoothies, fruit teas, Yakult drinks, Ombre Latte, milk teas and hot drinks. On the day of the soft opening, the two most popular menu items were the Butterfly Brown Sugar Milk and the Ube Twister Milk Tea.
Related Joliet Patch coverage of Shorewood’s restaurant scene:
Skooters Finally Reopens As Corrigan’s Pub, New Menu Here
New Shorewood Restaurant Reveals Menu, Opening Date
OPEN AGAIN: Shorewood Pizza For U New Owner: ‘I Had To Get It’
10 Photos: Cheesecakes By James Marks Shorewood Grand Opening
15 Photos: Pizza Ranch Opens Near Joliet: ‘The Country’s Best Chicken’
2 Teas Boba Opens: ‘I Love This Location, I Love Shorewood’
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