'Munger Road' Director Plans To Open Local Restaurant

ELGIN, IL – A St. Charles man who wrote, directed and produced Munger Road, a movie that cost only $200,000 to film and was shot over 16 days in St. Charles, Geneva and other area towns in 2011, will be opening a new restaurant in Elgin. Nick Smith is aiming to have his new restaurant, Old Republic Kitchen and Bar, open this May in the old former Lone Star Steakhouse along Randall Road.

The Elgin Courier-News reports:

Old Republic, which will be at 155 S. Randall Road near the Marcus Elgin Cinema, is part of the family-owned company that operates The Village Squire, Rookies Sports Pub and Alexander's locations.
The family opened its first Village Squire in West Dundee in 1974 in a building constructed in the late 1950s.

While the group bought its first Rookie's location in the late 1990s, Smith said Old Republic will be its first new concept since opening Alexander's in the late 1980s. Smith said he knew of the Lone Star location because he and his wife lived near it in Elgin.

Smith describes the food as "All-American"with plans to have New York-style pizza, West Coast-style burgers and the restaurant's own take on chicken cordon bleu on the menu, according to the newspaper. Renovations are currently underway at the 20-year-old building.

Photo caption: The former LoneStar steakhouse along Randall Road in Elgin will reopen as Old Republic this May. Photo credit: GoogleMaps