Dine on

The neighborhood that eats together, stays together

SUN CITY – In the seven years since the Neighborhood 17 Lunch Bunch formed, Stan Borucki never saw himself visiting a Chili’s.

“We never really thought about it. We try to find places we haven’t been before, and we’ve passed that restaurant maybe 50 times or so, but it never clicked that we could eat there,” Borucki, who co-founded the group with his wife, Vicky, said.

On Feb. 20 the chain joined the group’s list of 85 unique restaurants visited, as the Lunch Bunch met for their 86th meal.

The group, born in January 2007 as a way for residents of the neighborhood to meet, has long strived to eat at a unique restaurant each month, and has even managed to never repeat … except for one unintentional visit.

“The restaurant we were going to, which my wife and I had visited three weeks prior, all of a sudden shut down. I had no idea what to do, so we scrambled to find a place,” Borucki said. “We had been to Niko’s once before, but they were happy to seat us, so we went there.”

Each restaurant is scoped out two to three months in advance, with the Boruckis visiting to check out food quality, service time, pricing and availability. If the restaurant is on board with the larger party (most of which are, Borucki said), an e-mail is sent out to the neighborhood’s residents giving the next date, location and directions.

Residents then write back indicating their availability and a number attending, and the total number is passed along to the restaurant two days prior.

“We tend to stick with 30 to 40 per restaurant. The highest we’ve ever gone is 48, but if you get 40 people, it starts to get a little tight, unless the restaurant has a back-up room. But even then, you run into issues, like if they want to give you a fixed menu,” Borucki said.

While the number may seem high, all residents are not seated at the same table. Smaller tables of about six to eight are seated throughout the restaurant, and Borucki said both he and his wife tend to visit all of the tables before the lunch concludes.

The Bunch has maintained a core group of about 25 to 30 residents, but actual numbers fluctuate depending on availability.

“Some have dropped out, some have added. We have maybe 50 on our list that we send out to, but some have doctor’s appointments, or they’re snowbirds and are out of town, or are minding their grandkids,” Borucki said, adding that this month’s total was about 33.

While the group visits a new restaurant each month, that does not mean they have not visited the same building. Borucki said the group started off at Governor’s on Randall Road and re-visited when it opened as a Moretti’s. Additionally, the group dined at the Walleye Grill, which closed and re-opened as Jameson’s.

Maintaining the “unique restaurant every month” standard has proven challenging. Borucki is not sure the group will be able to last the entire year before they have to repeat.

“We maybe have six months [before repeating], but that’s okay. We may extend our boundaries a little bit, too. There are a couple of restaurants in Sycamore that we may try but nothing’s on paper yet,” he said.

The group’s boundaries stretch north to McHenry, east to Barrington, south to Elgin, and west to Marengo. Generally, Borucki said, they tend to stick to restaurants within a 30- to 35-minute drive from their neighborhood.

“I would say we’re about 80 percent independent, 20 percent chain. It’s amazing how many little places are around that you never think about that you just drive by,” Borucki said.

As for new restaurants, Borucki said the Bunch waits until “the restaurant is able to find its footing and work out the kinks.”

Even when the group starts repeating, no expiration date will be set. As long as everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, Borucki said, the group will dine on.

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