The Village Squire celebrates 50 years of good food, good times

WEST DUNDEE – The Village Squire, 125 Washington St., West Dundee, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a series of events and promotions from May 13 to 30, according to a news release.

The celebration begins with a special menu offering of anniversary specials May 13, a ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. May 16 with lunch specials and flashback pricing until 2 p.m., and a celebration with entertainment from 5 to 9 p.m. May 30.

“The main reason The Squire has endured half of a century and is still thriving is because of our people,” owner George Karas said in the release.

Over the past five decades, the Karas family has demonstrated true Greek hospitality – treating restaurant customers like guests in their own home, according to the release.

“We believe restaurants neither live nor die by numbers: guests served, total sales, per-guest average, gross profit,” Karas said in the release. “Numbers are crunched by people, and in restaurants like ours, it’s people and their commitment to quality and care that make all the numbers possible.

“We have the best staff a restaurant owner could ask for. Some of them have been working with us for decades, and we are grateful to each one of them.”

Greek immigrant brothers Paul and George Karas established The Village Squire in 1974, buying a 1958 building that had been a different restaurant.

They started out with a dimly lit, old English pub theme and a modest menu of nine items.

It has since grown into a Fox Valley institution known for good food, drinks, outdoor dining and entertainment.

After the success of the first Village Squire, the family added three more locations: 4818 Route 14, Crystal Lake, in 1979; 4512 W. Elm St., McHenry, in 1983; and 480 S. Randall Road, South Elgin, in 2005.

The Squire’s success developed into a thriving culinary dynasty: the Karas Restaurant Group, a collection of 16 establishments offering diverse dining and entertainment experiences, all united under one principle – “good places to be” – according to the release.

From home-cooked meals at Alexander’s Café, 1725 N. State St., Elgin, opened in 1986, and at 1650 W. Main St., St. Charles, opened in 2016, they also opened seven Rookies All American Pub and Grill; the Old Republic Kitchen & Bar, 155 S. Randall Road, Elgin, in 2017; and the Rookies Rochaus, 96 W. Main St., West Dundee, an entertainment venue.

Paul Karas died in October 2019, but his legacy lives on in his son, Bob Karas, as well as daughters Despina Karas and Eleni Karavasis, who all are part of the Karas Restaurant Group.

As Paul’s brother George eyes a well-earned retirement after 50 years, son Aleko Karas and son-in-law Nick Smith also are positioned to continue the family’s tradition of serving up heartfelt hospitality and good food as part owners of the Karas Restaurant Group, according to the release.

As the flagship of the Karas Restaurant Group, The Village Squire sets the standard for family dining and entertainment in the Fox Valley community – attentive service matched with consistently high-quality, well-prepared and equitably priced food.

Dedicated and knowledgeable staff, from servers to food preparers to managers, create an inviting atmosphere that diners will want to revisit and tell their friends about, according to the release.

But there’s one more way The Village Squire will be celebrating its half-century mark: Every time you dine at the West Dundee location during the month of May, you will receive a golden envelope.

Each contains a surprise reward – a free appetizer, a percentage off the bill, a half-price pizza or a $100 gift card.

In order to redeem the prize, the golden envelope must remain unopened and be brought back between June 1 and Sept. 30.

The restaurant will be giving out 5,000 golden envelopes.

“The Golden Envelope promotion is just a small token of our gratitude for the community’s loyal patronage over the last 50 years,” Bob Karas said in the release.