Web site honors downtown Elmhurst business
By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
Tannins restaurant and wine bar in downtown Elmhurst has made the very top of the list of Best Wine Bars in Illinois, according to the web site BestThingsIllinois.com.
Tannins’ owner Mike Allas admits he was skeptical.
“There’s all kinds of surveys and lists out there and we just wanted to make sure this was legit before we made it public,” he told the Independent in an interview. “I went to the web site, which is a site for tourists. They have all kinds of ‘Top Ten’ lists for best restaurant, best hamburger, things like that.
“They put it out on social media and it got almost 6,000 hits.”
Needless to say Mike and his wife Cyndi, who co-owns the wine bar, are thrilled at the honor.
“One reason we realized it was all legit is that, of all the wine bars, seven are in Chicago but there were two others that were ‘out there’ that is, south or way west. It wasn’t just Chicago bars.”
Design is sleek, urban
Tannins has been in its current location at 112 No. York Road for almost 17 years, owned by Mike & Cyndi for the last two and one-half. They moved here from Chicago about 13 years ago.
“We’ve tried to take the restaurant in a new direction and urbanize the look,” Mike said. “We like the clean lines and sleek look and right now, that’s very ‘urban’ and that might be why we did well on their study.”
Menu also urban chic
The wine bar also offers what are called “small plates” and “flights.” Flights offers guests the opportunity to sample three different wines. Small plates are just that — small plates or bites of food similar to Chinese dim sum.
“Some people don’t know we have several choices of beers available as well as wine,” he said. “We make hand-crafted cocktails, juices are all fresh-squeezed, I even make my own syrups.”
People may not know Tannins is a retail shop as well.
“Everything we have in the restaurant, everything we serve is available to purchase,” he said. “Beers, wines, all cheeses, meats, olives, chocolates, we carry a lot of items.”
Events get bigger, better, more popular
Tannins holds special events throughout the year. The wine bar is open on Thanksgiving Day for the Turkey Trot and on New Year’s Day for a pajama party; and, those the only two days of the year they offer a “Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary bar.” Needless to say, it’s popular.
“Every event we do has just grown exponentially each year,” Mike said. “This past year, it was three times as busy, numbers-wise.”
On the day of the Kentucky Derby, Tannins had a hat party for the ladies and served mint juleps. Mike got a workout making mint juleps (did we mention, individually hand-crafted?).
“Yes, I made each mint julep and they are quite labor intensive,” he said. “The mint is muddled to order. I believe I made 55 mint juleps that day. It wasn’t easy but it was a lot of fun.
“Each year, we get a little better and we get more and more people coming in.”
What about Elmhurst…
Asked what they like best about Elmhurst, Mike answers immediately.
“The people are so friendly!” he said. “I couldn’t believe the difference between it and where we used to live. [Another western suburb is so close by and had similar demographics, I just thought the people would mostly be the same, but they’re not. There’s a different culture between the two cities. In Elmhurst, you say hi to your neighbor, you pass people on the street, it’s what people from the City are looking for in a suburban experience.
“We just love it here — living here and having our business here.”
Sounds like BestThingsIllinois.com made the right choice for #1 Wine Bar in Illinois.
