Nabby's Owners Betting on Cruise Nights to Rev Up Their Rt. 59 Business

It’s been a rough few years for , which has seen a dramatic drop in its business thanks to the double-whammy of Route 59 construction and slumping economy.

With the light at the end of the tunnel – the road work should be finished by mid- to late-July – restaurant owners Mike Vitullo and Paul Hamiti are ready to reignite their Route 59/Naperville Road business and think a monthly car show/cruise night may be the key to revving their economic engine.

“We used to do a heckuva lunch business, but the last three years have been tough,” Vitullo said. “It’s been brutal.”

Even as most of the Route 59 has been reopened to four-lane traffic, one section of the roadway between Route 126 and Renwick Road is still just two lanes and the bottleneck where the road goes from four lanes to two is almost directly across from Nabby’s.

It was longtime customer Sam Reichert who suggested the car show idea to Vitullo and Hamiti. The pair had held a similar event two years ago that was a great success, Vitullo said, so it seemed like a no-brainer way to get people to the restaurant.

Their first cruise night will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday. The Plainfield Village Board has given them permission to close Michigan Street between Naperville-Plainfield Road and Route 126 to accommodate the volume of cars they expect. There are no residences on the street and all of the businesses will be closed, Vitullo said.

After that, cruise nights will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. July 16, Aug. 20 and Sept. 17. The August event is being co-sponsored by Southland Street Machines.

Vitullo said they plan to make it a party-like event, with a DJ playing music, goodie bags, raffle drawings and plaques awarded to the best cars in various categories.

The show will specialize in T-Buckets, a type of two-seat car that uses or is modeled on a Ford Model T. Aficionados either extensively overhaul an old car or build a souped-up replica.  

Although MainStreet Plainfield holds a cruise night downtown on Tuesday nights in the summer, Vitullo said he doesn’t think they’ll be in competition. There’s enough interest in old cars to support both, he said.

And just like the downtown event, the goal is to bring in new customers, he added.

“The catering (portion of Nabby’s business) is what’s been keeping us afloat,” Vitullo said. “We have our old customers (who have been loyal), and now we need new customers.”