Syl's Restaurant & Lounge: Big Change For 1st Time Since 1946

ROCKDALE, IL — For the past 73 years, thousands of restaurants have opened and gone out of business in Will County, but Syl's Restaurant & Lounge has stood the test of time, remaining one of the area's most treasured restaurants for decades. Located at 829 Moen Ave., on the outskirts of Joliet, Syl's has a well-earned reputation for elegant fine dining. But this week, something is different. Change is underway.

In 1946, Syl's was founded by the Pekol family. Now, the torch has been passed to someone else.

A brochure inside the restaurant informs Syl's customers "the Pekol family would like to welcome Don and Maura Williams. As of September 3, 2019, Syl's will be ongoing with direction from the Williams family. With over 25 years in the hospitality and catering industry, the Williams Family is committed to honoring the tradition of this renowned family establishment."

On Tuesday afternoon, before Syl's opened for the night, Joliet Patch drove to Rockdale to interview the new owner, Don Williams.

Williams is very well-known in Joliet's fine-dining arena. He runs the catering for the downtown Joliet Renaissance Center and he previously did the catering at Joliet's Country Club.

Williams gave Joliet Patch a candid interview.

First off, he promised no major changes in terms of the food selections. All of Syl's high-caliber cooks are staying, he said.

However, Syl's long-term success, he told Patch, will be dependent upon the Rockdale restaurant attracting more and more new customers, couples in their forties and early to mid-fifties who perhaps relocated to Joliet, Shorewood, Channahon and Plainfield from, say, Chicago.

Williams estimated there are thousands of people who are establishing roots in Will County and Kendall County, completely unaware of Syl's long-standing tradition as being one of Will County's most elegant restaurants.

From this point forward, it will be crucial to tap into that market, to start building up a new generation of loyal and faithful Syl's customers, Williams explained.

Under the new ownership, Syl's is also expanding its hours of business.

Syl's is now staying open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

And beginning Sunday, Sept. 22, Syl's will be changing its Sunday hours to 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. as it begins offering a Sunday brunch menu for customers; that's another way to draw more first-time customers to Syl's, to give the place a try.

"I'm not changing a lot, but we are going to be doing daily bar specials," Williams informed Patch.

Williams said that "all the sauteed items" are what makes Syl's stand out from the pack.

"You can get a filet anywhere, a New York strip anywhere, but there are some things on our menu here that you are not going to see anywhere else," he noted.

Williams said he plans to make some improvements to the property in the months ahead.

"It's an older building," he explained. "Bob (Pekol) has got a great business down here and hopefully we can expand it. I'm 49 years old and that range of 45 years old to 55 years old, they've all been here before. Maybe they came down with their mom and dad ... I want to get them back. I want to get them back into the fold."

As an aside, this Joliet Patch Editor and his wife ate here last month to celebrate our anniversary, completely oblivious to the changes in ownership that were in the works. Our meals were excellent, our service was fabulous. That night, I went with the prime rib. It was my first time eating at Syl's in several decades, after living outside Illinois from 2000 until July 2017.

Williams emphasized that Syl's "pours good drinks here and we have a very expansive menu. The menu is pretty diverse, compared to a lot of places you go. It's a fine-dining steakhouse, and it does have a lot of seafood."

It's also important for people to know that Syl's is a viable option for smaller weddings, wedding rehearsal dinners, anniversaries, birthday parties, graduations, reunions and other business events, Williams said.

The banquet room can accommodate 160 guests, he noted.

For more, check out the menu posted online for Syl's Restaurant & Lounge.