'Food Is Terrific,' Side Bar Cafe Opens In New Courthouse

JOLIET, IL — Wednesday marked an important milestone for the new $215 million Will County Courthouse —the opening of The Side Bar Cafe on the fifth floor of the towering building hovering over the skyline of downtown Joliet.

"I think it's going to be an excellent place for the public and the employees to gather and grab a bite to eat, an excellent addition to the courthouse," remarked Roger Holland, Will County's trial court administrator.

Holland met for lunch with Will County Chief Judge Richard Schoenstedt on Wednesday. Schoenstedt was in an upbeat mood because he was one of nine Will County Circuit Judges all retained by the voters of Will County during Tuesday night's elections.

Schoenstedt oversaw the construction of the new courthouse, which opened Monday.

"They did a great job on getting this open as quickly as they did," Schoenstedt said, referring to Side Bar Cafe.

"It's beautiful and from everything I've heard, the food is terrific, plenty of choices. The public is free to come in and if they want to come up and see a beautiful cafeteria on the floor, everybody is welcome."

Side Bar Cafe is now open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Side Bar Cafe focuses on hot and cold sandwiches, soups, salads, fruit cups and yogurt parfaits. There's an Espresso bar, regular coffees, soft drinks, hot breakfast sandwiches along with bagels with cream cheese, pastries, muffins and donuts.

Side Bar Cafe makes 7-inch personal pizzas. There are two soups of the day.

One of the district managers with Quest Food said the sandwiches are made to order.

Quest Food Management Services was awarded the contract by the Will County Board to operate the cafeteria inside the new courthouse. Quest Food Services was started in 1985, in Lombard. According to its website, Quest Food generates $65 million in annual revenue and has approximately 90 accounts across the Midwest. In 2019, Quest said it ranked No. 33 in the Food Management Magazine's Top 50 food management companies in the U.S.

Quest Food handles the food service for Joliet Catholic Academy and, most recently, it added the University of St. Francis.

"We want to be seen by your community as the dining services department, not as an outside vendor," the company's website proclaims.