St. Charles Prasino Becoming Wild Monk Gastropub

While things will remain status quo at the Wicker Park location, Prasino in St. Charles closed temporarily on Jan. 2 to remodel. Once the work is complete, the restaurant will be reborn sometime this spring as Wild Monk, a new gastropub concept by the same owners, the Maglaris family.

The new restaurant, which will join an already-open sister spot in suburban La Grange, will continue to support local farmers, but will now have a larger emphasis on its beverage program, especially beer. A spokeswoman for the company said they had received a lot of feedback from customers who wanted a larger craft beer offering.

To accommodate that, the restaurant had to retool the bar area since it was originally intended to mostly serve fresh juices and smoothies at Prasino. Originally they wanted to stay open during the remodel, but the construction would have proved to be too much of a health hazard.

When Wild Monk opens it will have an often-changing beverage program that will pair with more homestyle cooking. It will also feature harder-to-find craft beers and the restaurant will still have an emphasis on local brewers and distillers.

Wild Monk in La Grange [Photo: Facebook]