Owner Of Mark's On 59 Put On Electronic Monitoring Against His Defense Attorney's Wishes

SHOREWOOD, IL — Mark Kafka, an owner of the Mark's on 59 restaurant that has been a mainstay along Shorewood's Route 59 for more than 25 years, is no longer in the Will County Jail, but he has been placed on electronic monitoring by Will County Judge Chrystal Gavlin, against his wishes.

Court files indicate that Kafka is being represented by private counsel, long-time Joliet criminal defense attorney Steven Haney. According to court records, Haney objected to the Will County State's Attorney's Office request that his client be placed on electronic monitoring. However, Judge Gavlin agreed to this stipulation.

Will County pretrial services can now monitor Kafka's whereabouts.

Kafka was kept in the Will County Jail two days, Feb. 9-10, after being arrested by the Shorewood Police on the Sunday night of the Super Bowl game.

Not only does Kafka face domestic battery charges, but two other court actions were taken against him this week. The victim, also in her 50s, filed for divorce against him, and she also obtained an emergency order of protection to keep Kafka away from her.

The victim checked the following boxes on her order of protection document for the types of abuse she wants to prevent: harassment, physical abuse and interference with personal liberty.

The criminal complaint accuses Kafka of striking the victim about the head on Feb. 8.

"I am requesting an order of protection against Mark because he hit me on the bridge of my nose," the victim wrote Will County's judges. "He also fought me to get my phone out of my hand. I called the police and I filed a report. He was arrested and is in custody."

According to his order for electronic monitoring, Kafka must stay away from his house in the 1200 block of Shorewood's 1200 Wales Court as well as the victim "until further order."

His next hearing at the Will County Courthouse is set for Feb. 19 at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 801.

The judge's order indicates that "while the defendant is charged with a detainable offense, the state has not filed a petition to detain."

In the summer of 2020, Mark Kafka and his Mark's On 59 was the focus of a Joliet Patch restaurant story about his family restaurant's return to business after a four-month-long shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Patch reported that Mark's on 59 was best known for its hand-battered and breaded shrimp.

In 2014, Chicago's Best TV, which has 325,000 YouTube subscribers, visited Shorewood for a segment on the shrimp at Mark's On 59.

"It's been a long four months," owner Mark Kafka told Joliet Patch for the 2020 story. He and his brother Eric operated the restaurant while their brother Frank runs the K's Liquors and Foods in the same business plaza along Route 59.

Their restaurant address is 714 Cottage St.