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Boston Fish Market in Wheeling expects summer opening

It's been the burning question around Wheeling. Or, perhaps more appropriately, it's been the grilling, frying, baking, sizzling question.

When is Boston Fish Market opening its new location along Wheeling's Restaurant Row? We finally have an answer - sort of.

Owners of the Des Plaines-based seafood distributor and restaurant initially hoped to open last year when they began transforming the former Pete Miller's Seafood & Steak at 412 N. Milwaukee Avenue. That deadline came and went.

Then, earlier this spring, owners raised their sign at the five-acre property - also raising hopes of an imminent opening. However, it appears that seafood lovers will have to wait at least a few more months for salmon, scallops, shark, sturgeon and more.

"August-ish," Mike Vallone, a representative for the restaurant, told village board members inquiring last week about an opening date for the restaurant that will seat up to 400 patrons.

But progress has been made. Vallone said interior renovations are nearly complete and exterior improvements are underway. The village board approved a $50,000 grant last week to help pay for building facade upgrades, outdoor patio improvements, sidewalk repair, new concrete flooring and two new signs.

"I've been up close to the building and it's a thousand times better with that stone work on the patio and the building itself," Trustee Ray Lang said. "It looks really amazing compared to what you had to work with."

As for the later-than-anticipated opening date, restaurant management declined to provide an update in a phone call Tuesday. Wheeling Economic Development Director John Melaniphy said owner Louis Psihogios wants the restaurant just right.

"He has spared no expense in making this a first-class facility that customers are going to want to patronize on a regular basis," Melaniphy said. "He wants to do it right. He doesn't want to cut any corners."

  Work continues on the new Boston Fish Market location in Wheeling. Originally expected to open in 2017, a representative of the restaurant said owners are now hoping to open in the late summer. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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