Cherry Pit Cafe Returns to Deerfield

DEERFIELD, IL - The Cherry Pit Cafe that won the hearts of diners in Deerfield in the 1990s and early 2000s is back to its original name and location.

New owners Carmen Vargas, Fredy Flores and Albertico Banuelos re-opened the eatery at 808 Waukegan Rd. earlier this month after the closing of Kevin’s Place, the name of the restaurant for a decade under former management.

While Vargas, Flores and Banuelos are new to owning a restaurant, they are no strangers to this one. They have served as cooks and wait staff at the place for decades, both for Kevin’s Place and the former Cherry Pit.

When Kevin’s Place closed down for good a few months back, Vargas said the motivation was there to keep a restaurant in the spot and be back in business as quick as possible.

“It was a Deerfield institution for so long,” Vargas, who began as a cook at the location in 1993, said of the former Cherry Pit. “Cherry Pit was really woven into the community. I became friends with many people, watched as their children grew up, catered events for them outside of the restaurant, and I just really became part of this wonderful community."

Vargas said he and his co-owners thought it was right to “bring back the original name where it all began for us.”

He describes the feeling of loss when he and the entire staff lost their jobs due to financial issues associated with Kevin’s Place.

“When we lost our jobs, we were in limbo,” he said, adding that he went to work for another diner temporarily but “just felt empty.”

“I felt as if I had to leave my home and start all over,” Vargas said.

So the trio pulled their money together, spoke with the owner of the building about their interest and a few weeks later: Cherry Pit.

“We know everything about this location,” Vargas said. “Not to mention it would be disrespectful to our community if we opened the Cherry Pit Cafe somewhere other than where it originally started.”

The community has been thrilled about the return.

“We were expecting to have a decent response from the amount of customers that we had in the past, the friends we've made, and families that we know in the area but we received so much more,” Vargas said of the first few weeks since opening. “I can't even begin to tell you how many people have came in and given us hugs and handshakes and just generally being overwhelmed with joy to see us back. We are just so happy to be able to see all the people we've known and served for 20 years again everyday.”

The trio has even added to the restaurant staff with a few hires from the original Cherry Pit.

The menu includes a mix of classic dishes that have been favorites for years and “a whole lot more lunch items,” Vargas said.

“In the past we were not getting the lunch crowd because of the limited selection. Now that we own the restaurant we have added more items for lunch.”

On Mondays, the Cherry Pit will offer half price on the kids menu and senior citizens will be discounted on Tuesdays. Get a free cup of soup with every sandwich order on Wednesdays and the restaurant’s “throwback Thursday special” includes a 4 oz. cheeseburger and fries for $5.