🏆 Best of the West

There’s no denying it. We’re spoiled out here in the Tri-Cities.

And it’s not just naive local pride — folks visiting from other areas tend to gush about our exceptional restaurants, vibrant brewery scene, excellent shopping and unique small business community.

So it’s great to see these special businesses and events gain recognition on a wider scale. In this case, West Suburban Living Magazine’s “Best of the West 2024” — which covers 40+ communities in the western suburbs.

A huge congrats to our local first-place winners below! (Large chains have been excluded).

Food & drink

• Best New Restaurant: Ella’s Italian Pub (Geneva)

• Best Italian Restaurant: Villa Verone (Geneva)

• Best Mexican Restaurant: Bien Trucha (Geneva)

• Best Chinese Restaurant: Cravings (Geneva)

• Best Fish Fry: Duke’s Northwoods (St. Charles)

• Best Microbrewery: Penrose Brewing (Geneva)

• Best Sunday Brunch: Little Traveler Atrium Café (Geneva)

• Best Deli/Sandwich Shop: Deane’s Market & Deli (Geneva)

• Best Burger: The Burger Local (Geneva)

• Best Food Truck: Fernando’s Street Kitchen (Batavia)

• Best Ice Cream: Graham’s Fine Chocolate & Ice Cream (Geneva)

Entertainment 

• Best Place for Live Music: Arcada Theatre (St. Charles)

• Best Place for Live Comedy: Comedy Vault (Batavia)

• Best Festival or Fair: Swedish Days (Geneva) 

• Best Downtown for Shopping: Geneva

Miscellaneous

• Best Women’s & Men’s Clothing Store: Von Maur (St. Charles)

• Best Pet Store: Two Bostons (Geneva)

• Best Local Hotel: The Herrington Inn & Spa (Geneva)

• Town You’d Most Want To Live In (Not Your Own): Geneva

Um, has Geneva been putting something in the water or what?

Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles businesses also took a ton of second- and third-place accolades, but there’s not enough room to document those in this little newsletter.

➡️ See where everyone else landed here.

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📰 News to use

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☑️ All things STC: St. Charles Mayor Lora Vitek delivered a “State of the City” address highlighting new developments, business openings and infrastructure projects from the past year.

☑️ Geneva Crossing: A developer has proposed building 40 townhomes in a Geneva neighborhood near Delnor Hospital. A public hearing will likely be scheduled.

☑️ Budget update: St. Charles’ new city budget includes $53M in capital projects, including water/sewer improvements that will require a 5% rate increase over the next several years (effective for utility bills issued after June 1).

☑️ Take a detour: You may want to avoid the intersection of Route 31 and State in Geneva, as asphalt work at all four corners will likely cause delays today through Wednesday.

☑️ Safe streets: Batavia’s special Committee of the Whole Meeting tonight will include discussion about proposed speed limit changes for the city.

🔒 No more eyesore: The wrecking ball descended on the old Pheasant Run tower on Friday in an effort to demolish the last remaining vestige of the former resort destination.

🏘️ In the community

☑️ Tri-Cities safety: Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles police are joining forces to enforce safe driving practices and educate the public ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

☑️ Embrace healthiness: Residents can take advantage of an array of free health screenings and other community wellness resources at the WellBatavia Festival on June 8 at City Hall.

☑️ Signs of summer: Batavia’s Quarry Beach reopens on Saturday with a variety of special events planned for the season.

☑️ Secure a spot: Interested artisans can now apply to participate in Batavia’s Winterfest Art Market, which takes place in November. Applications will be accepted through July 15.

🎸 Live music

Looks like the weather will set the stage for some splendid patio music vibes on Wednesday and Thursday.

Here’s the weekday lineup as it stands now — we’ll add throughout the week as necessary!

🏬 Local biz

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☑️ Surprise shutdown: With Batavia’s XSport Fitness location reportedly closing, River West Family Fitness (located downtown) is offering 50% off to affected XSport members.

☑️ Podcast ep: Richard from “Area Code: Batavia” chatted with boardwalk shop owners about their hopes and dreams and what it means to be part of such a unique community.

☑️ Just dance: Veteran dance instructor Brittni Nicole Thorne just opened The Dance Lab in St. Charles, offering ballroom, Latin and fitness-infused classes for all ages and skill levels.

☑️ Gassing up: A new Thorntons gas station and convenience store is now open near the corner of Route 64 and Dunham in St. Charles.

☑️ Coffee biz: On the agenda for tonight’s STC City Council meeting is a resolution authorizing a business improvement grant agreement between the city and Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters.

🗞️ Un-classifieds

☑️ Local home sales: Residential property sales for the week ending May 11 included seven in Batavia, one in Geneva and 11 in St. Charles — including a St. Charles home dating back to 1860 that sold for nearly $1.3M on 7th Street.

☑️ Civic happenings: All three City Councils have meetings tonight. Here are the agendas — Batavia | Geneva | St. Charles

☑️ Deal of the day: STC’s popular Asian spot moto imōto offers half-priced sushi specials on Tuesdays and half-price bottles of wine on Wednesdays.

🗓️ Events + things to do

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☑️ Flowers: More Than Meets The Eye | Tuesday, 6:45-9PM | Batavia Library | Award-winning teacher, conservationist and photographer Jack Shouba will shed light on how to look at flowers in new and fascinating ways.

☑️ Permanent Jewelry & Cocktails | Thursday, 6-9PM | The Lewis, STC | Join Lenny Lu Collective for a Girl's Night Out featuring Permanent Jewelry and tasty bevs.

☑️ Summer Concerts | Thursdays, 7PM | Lincoln Park Gazebo, STC | Weekly outdoor concerts featuring local food vendors will kick off this Thursday in downtown St. Charles.

🎟️ Tranquili-TEA | Saturday, 11AM | The Graceful Ordinary, STC | Enjoy tea, sweets and pastries as you support mental health awareness and TriCity Family Services.

🎟️ Sunset Pool Preseason | Saturday to Tuesday | Geneva | Geneva’s Sunset Pool will hold open swim Saturday through Tuesday before officially opening with normal hours on Wednesday.

🌖 Weather snapshot

🌩️ Today: High 84F | Low 64F | Hot + stormy

🌩️ Tuesday: High 86F | Low 61F | Copy of Monday

🌤️ Wednesday: High 74F | Low 52F | Temps moderate

☀️ Thursday: High 76F | Low 51F | Incredible

📖 Thanks for reading!

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