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28 | January 19, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger Dining Out mokenamessenger.com The Dish Side Street combines unique flavors with entertainment Brittany Kapa, Assistant Editor Side Street American Tavern offers more than just good food. Accurately named, Side Street American Tavern is nestled off 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue at 18401 North Creek Drive in Tinley Park. The restaurant not only offers a wide range of meal options on its menu but also seemingly can adjust to anyone’s entertainment needs. Side Street has a private dining room for all occasions — a space big enough for a wedding. The restaurant also can shift into a sports bar when needed, with 25 televisions throughout. It truly is a chameleon of a restaurant, featuring seasonal menu items to boot. Owner Jimmy Kollintzas has been working in the industry his entire life. He wanted Side Street to be a middle ground for area residents. It is not a sports bar, nor is it a fine dining restaurant. It lands in the middle, with options for both scenarios. Getting started Kollintzas is a Tinley Park resident but grew up in Indiana. He has worked as a bus boy, on the line and now has opened yet another restaurant. He also owns a fast food concept restaurant in Joliet, World Famous Jimmy K’s Gyros. “In high school, I started off working in a family diner and worked my way up into owning my own restaurant,” Kollintzas said. He took his experience with him and knows what makes a good restaurant tick. He opened Side Street with his business partners and cousins on March 17 of this past year. “Being on the south side, you have sports bars and you have very fine dining restaurants,” Kollintzas said. “We wanted to be a unique experience where you could have a little bit of both.” Since the Tinley Park Convention Center is close, and the restaurant itself is surrounded by hotels, it provided a good opportunity to play around with the menu and add some more high-end dishes. Kollintzas said they wanted to be able to offer everyone a good option for dinner, whether that includes a tender and juicy burger or more of a fine dining option. “What I’ve learned: Our biggest asset as an independent is that we’re hands on,” Kollintzas said. “I’m here every day. We’re really getting to know what our customers want and getting customer feedback.” Focused on the mains Customer feedback has played a major role in what is offered on the extensive menu. Patrons can come in with friends and share the generous portion of Side Street Nachos ($10). They come piled high with pico de gallo, queso, jalapeño, guacamole, lettuce, olive, tomato and onion. Options with the dish include adding chicken ($2) or steak ($4). “We wanted unique items on the menu — wow items,” Kollintzas said. “I think it’s very important, because people eat with their eyes.” The restaurant does not disappoint with its finer dining options in this regard. The cola-braised volcano pork shank ($22) appeals to the eyes, as well as the stomach, when it is served. This dish is served with a base of house-made mashed potatoes, and the generous portion of pork shank is served Side Street American Tavern 18401 North Creek Drive in Tinley Park Hours • 11 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday • 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday- Saturday • 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday For more information ... Web: www. sidestreettavern.com Phone: (708) 928-8080 vertically with a tangy Carolina mopping sauce on top the entire dish. Guests will have leftovers with this one. Kollintzas always is willing to hear what customers have to say about his restaurant. And recently, Side Street opened for lunch, per customer request. “Our menu added a couple more items that people wanted,” Kollintzas said, noting with the cold weather people were craving heavier options. “We added some more comfort dishes, like pot roast. We added chicken pot pie, and we opened for lunch recently. We offered more sandwich selections.” Uniquely named, the Weezee is a creation from his store in Joliet that has been brought to Tinley Park. A repeat customer visited, and, at the time, Kollintzas was trying out a new beef sandwich. The customer loved it so much that he brought his friends the next day. Kollintzas decided to name the sandwich after the man. “He was a truck driver, and his name said ‘Weezee’ on [his shirt],” Kollintzas said. “He was a bigger guy, so we called it the ‘Big Weezee.’” The ‘big’ has been This BBQ Burger ($12) at Side Street American Tavern in Tinley Park features an antibioticfree patty with cherrywood bacon, onion strings, cheddar cheese, lettuce and BBQ sauce, garnished with a pickle and seasoned fries. Photos by Brittany Kapa/22nd Century Media dropped, but the Original Weezee ($12) can be found on the menu, complete with beef, mozzarella and signature seasoning, known as sottaceti. Variations of the sandwich include a chicken option, a vegetarian option and a meatball option. Time for dessert Side Street offers just two desserts, but they are worth leaving a little room. The signature bread pudding ($7) is served warm, with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream on top, and drizzled with caramel. Sticking with one of the restaurant’s themes, this is a portion that can be shared with others. The bread pudding is sweet with a hint of cinnamon. It is just moist enough, without being soggy, which can be a common problem for bread puddings. Entertainment extras Since the space is so Side Street Tavern’s Bread Pudding ($7) is served warm, with vanilla bean ice cream, whipped cream and caramel drizzled on top. large, Kollintzas has capitalized on this fact. And there are events throughout the week — live entertainment during the week, as well as live bands on the weekend. The restaurant also has indoor bags and trivia nights for those interested. “This restaurant is very unique, because it’s such a beautiful building,” Kollintzas said. “We wanted to incorporate everything here. There are so many restaurants and so much competition that you have to make yourself stand out a little bit.”
mokenamessenger.com PUZZLES the Mokena Messenger | January 19, 2017 | 29 crosstown CROSSWORD & Sudoku The crosstowns: Frankfort, Homer Glen, Lockport, Mokena, New Lenox, Orland Park, Tinley Park Crossword by Myles Mellor and Cindy LaFleur Across 1. Mischief maker 6. Created 10. Leave it as it is 14. Emigre 15. College grad. school 16. Henry VIII’s sixth 17. Masons’ creations 18. Swell 19. Woodwind instrument 20. Will County nature preserve 23. Wild enthusiasm 24. Types 25. Graduation-cap attachment 29. Pekoe 30. Arm bone 31. Beatles: “Old Brown ___” 34. Hurried 39. It may accompany ‘’Ahem!’’ 41. Miscellany 42. Forested area 43. Popular Middle East meat 44. Nil 46. In ___ of (instead of) 47. It contains stanzas 49. Gather on the surface, chemically 51. Systematic plan 55. Tennis great, Arthur 57. Lockport’s sewers’ sanctuary 62. Get to 63. Ballet attire 64. Pink color 66. Butterfly like 67. Length x width 68. Dark wood 69. Lean and mean 70. ____ apple 71. Artful move Down 1. Drops on blades 2. Test 3. Repugnant 4. Woes 5. Renter 6. Food from heaven 7. Adjust one’s wheels 8. Mussolini title 9. Come out 10. Dessert shoveler? 11. Small drum 12. Break down 13. Lock 21. Building additions 22. Becomes frayed 25. Nip partner 26. Cream additive 27. Give the cold shoulder 28. It’s a long story 29. Rip 32. Ridicule 33. Unique 35. Suffers 36. History Muse 37. At all times 38. Slap on 40. Fusion weapon 45. Honolulu island 48. Wide river mouths 50. Made frost free 51. Scarecrow stuffing 52. Texas cook-off dish 53. Scar-like 54. Manicurist’s need 55. Daisy-like bloom 56. Young pigeon 58. Currency in France 59. Gray wolf 60. Stepped 61. Performed a melody 65. Potassium hydroxide How to play Sudoku Each sudoku puzzle consists of a 9x9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3x3 squares. To solve the puzzle, each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. LEVEL: Medium Sudoku by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan answers MOKENA The Alley Grill and Tap House (18700 S. Old LaGrange Road, Mokena; (708) 478- 3610) ■9 ■ p.m. Tuesdays: Karaoke Fox’s Restaurant and Pub (11247 W. 187th St., Mokena; (708) 478-8888) ■6 ■ p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays: Jerry Eadie performance Jenny’s Southside Tap (10160 191st St., Mokena; (708) 479-6873) ■6 ■ p.m. Tuesdays: Acoustic Avenue, Psychic night - second Tuesday every month. ■9 ■ p.m. Thursdays: Karaoke ■Fridays ■ and Saturdays: Live bands NEW LENOX Little Joe’s Restaurant (1300 N. Cedar Road, New Lenox; (815) 463- 1099) ■5-8 ■ p.m. Tuesdays: Piano Styles by Joe LOCKPORT The Outpost Pub & Grill (14929 Archer Ave., Lockport; (815) 836-8893) ■8 ■ p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays: Live DJ and Karaoke Strike N Spare II (811 Northern Drive, Lockport; (708) 301- 1477) ■9:30 ■ p.m.-12:30 a.m. Mondays: Quartermania HOMER GLEN Mullets Sports Bar and Restaurant (14903 S. Bell Road, Homer Glen; (708) 645- 7000) ■7 ■ p.m. Wednesdays: Trivia FRANKFORT Pete Mitchell’s Bar & Grill (21000 Frankfort Square Road, Frankfort; (815) 464-8100) ■6-8 ■ p.m. Wednesdays: Free N’ Fun Bar Game. Free to play. To place an event in The Scene, email b.kapa@22ndcenturymedia. com.
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