New Mediterranean restaurant coming to Schaumburg
Schaumburg trustees Tuesday approved a new restaurant in the village for the first time in months, just days before Friday's expected start of Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan that would allow a limited amount of indoor dining.
L'Olive Mediterranean Cuisine will be located at 9 W. Schaumburg Road, in a 2,624-square-foot area of the building it will share with Baird & Warner in Town Square at the intersection of Roselle Road.
According to the proposal, the restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily once renovations have been completed.
Schaumburg Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said she recognizes a feeling of optimism in the restaurant, particularly as it has been working its way through the village review process since the height of the restaurant closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
That any new restaurant is opening in the village is good news, but Fitzgerald said what makes L'Olive Mediterranean Cuisine even better is that it's contributing to the vision and potential of Town Square.
Owner Taoufik Boujbel could not be reached for comment or to provide an expected opening date Tuesday. But in an earlier letter to the village, he stated that the restaurant is likely to start with 12 employees and be able to serve 80 to 100 customers at a time -- at least before occupancy restrictions were set for Phase 4.
“We believe that our business will participate in increasing consumer attractivity and families' entertainment in the neighborhood of Town Square Shopping Center location of Schaumburg,” Boujbel wrote.
Though no structural changes are planned for the space, it will likely take some time to convert it from its former use as a martial arts school into a restaurant.
Though the original proposal doesn't include a request for outdoor seating, the village had a provision to allow it in some places even before the pandemic and this location wouldn't be prohibitive, Fitzgerald said.