For years, a night out in downtown Downers Grove has meant picking a restaurant, eating, and heading home. The next businesses due downtown are planned around the rest of the evening: a drink while you wait for a table, a round of darts after dinner, a nightcap somewhere quiet. Two of the three biggest openings come from the same local partners.
Todd Davies and Tim Canning opened Cadence Kitchen in 2018, according to an Oak Brook Magazine profile of the pair. They opened The Foxtail, a Mediterranean restaurant created with chef Maya Nahouli, in March 2020. Their next two projects are both in downtown Downers Grove. Here's where each one stands as of mid-October.
The three openings at a glance
| Business | Address | What's planned | Expected timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Rec League | 844 Warren Ave. | Restaurant downstairs, golf simulators and darts upstairs, heated patio | Late 2026 |
| Bee Sweet Bakery | 5126 Main St. | Bakery by day, speakeasy by night | Listed as opening soon |
| Ranalli's | 5200 Main St. | Tavern-style thin crust and pan pizza | January 2027 |
The Rec League is planned for the hours after dinner
Davies told Oak Brook Magazine why the group took this on: "We wanted to offer something to do when you're with friends that's not only centered around the meal." The building at 844 Warren Avenue is the result.
It's new construction. The Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation project page describes a 6,500-square-foot building that started construction in 2025, with an all-season heated patio and a large courtyard firepit. There are two floors, and each works differently:
- Downstairs: a restaurant serving Spanish-inspired small plates and wine, creative cocktails, private dining, and a large patio, according to Oak Brook Magazine.
- Upstairs: a more casual floor with golf simulators, interactive darts, shareable food, and big screens for sports. That includes soccer, which the magazine notes can be hard to find at suburban sports bars.
Village documents described by Patch also mention billiards on the second floor. The same documents say the building's wood timbers and stone accents "reflect a California mountain vernacular." That's a different look from the storefronts along Main Street.
The project went before the Downers Grove Liquor Commission on Oct. 1. It applied for a Class R-1/O license, which would let it serve beer, wine, and liquor indoors and outdoors. The economic development corporation still lists the opening as late 2026. According to Oak Brook Magazine, the project will also add dozens of new jobs in Downers Grove, and the group plans to promote from within its current restaurants.
Bee Sweet brings back a familiar Main Street space, with a new evening side
The Rec League stretches the evening past dinner. The group's second project fills the time before it, along with breakfast.
Bee Sweet Bakery is moving into 5126 Main Street. Ingram's Busy Bee Bakery operated there for more than 50 years before closing in 2021. "We wanted to honor what stood in this space for decades," Davies told Oak Brook Magazine. The daytime menu is coffee and specialty baked goods from the group's pastry chef, Laurie McNamara, including her popular scones.
In the evening, a separate space opens as a speakeasy. Canning described it to the magazine as "intimate and dark," with unique cocktails, small bites, and good music. He called it "a special spot to stop for a drink while you wait for a table, or to come and have a nightcap." That's a role downtown hasn't really had a dedicated place for: somewhere to go between other plans.
Patch reported in April on the village paperwork for this dual-concept business, filed under the name HoneyComb. It proposed bakery hours of 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and an evening restaurant in the back open from 5 p.m. until 1 or 2 a.m. The plan called for turntables playing light jazz, rock, and Motown. A liquor commissioner compared the concept to spots in Chicago's Fulton Market District. Those hours were proposals. Actual hours will come when the doors open.
The bakery was expected to open this summer. Downtown Downers Grove's business directory still lists it as opening soon.
Ranalli's adds a Chicago pizza name, a little later than planned
Davies and Canning aren't the only ones betting on Main Street. Ranalli's, the Chicago pizzeria, is preparing 5200 Main Street, its first location in the suburbs. The menu has tavern-style thin crust and pan pizzas, with specialty pies like hot honey soppressata with roasted tomatoes and whipped ricotta.
The opening was first planned for this fall. In August, Patch reported that Ranalli's now aims to open in January, citing changes in the construction schedule. The downtown directory listing points anyone who wants updates to a mailing list.
The downtown calendar already pays off for anyone who lingers
None of the three is confirmed open yet, but there's still plenty to do downtown. The fall and holiday calendar from Downtown Downers Grove mostly involves walking from storefront to storefront: searching windows, painting windows, judging windows. That's the same kind of unhurried evening the new venues are planning for.
Halloween weekend
- Halloween Scavenger Hunt, through Friday, Oct. 23: look for Halloween figures hidden in downtown business windows.
- Halloween Window Painting, Saturday, Oct. 24, 9 a.m. to noon: pick up paint at 933A Curtiss Street and decorate a striped downtown window. Windows aren't assigned and go first-come, first-served, with one space per child. Organizers ask for a canned-good donation for the Downers Grove F.I.S.H. Pantry.
- Living Cemetery, Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to noon: the Downers Grove Historical Society's event at the historic Main Street Cemetery. According to the Village of Downers Grove, local drama students and adult actors portray the early settlers buried there.
- Halloween Fest, Costume Contest and Parade, Sunday, Oct. 25, noon to 1 p.m.: at Fishel Park, presented by the Downers Grove Noon Lions Club.
- Downtown Trick-or-Treating, Sunday, Oct. 25, 1 to 3 p.m.: at participating businesses, with a printable map from the organizers.
For neighborhood trick-or-treating, the Village of Downers Grove lists Halloween as Saturday, Oct. 31. It doesn't set hours and recommends trick-or-treating during daylight.
The holiday stretch
- Candy Cane Cash runs Nov. 27 through Dec. 31 as a downtown holiday promotion.
- The Holiday Window Contest runs Fridays through Sundays from Nov. 27 to Dec. 13.
- Small Business Saturday is Nov. 28.
- Visits with Santa run 1 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 28 and 29 and Dec. 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, and 20.
- Free wagonette rides run downtown on Sunday, Nov. 29, from 1 to 4 p.m.
- Merry Madness is Thursday, Dec. 10, from 5 to 8 p.m., an evening of holiday shopping, dining, and activities downtown.
The Makers and Merchants Market is a short drive from downtown. It runs Saturday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Community Christian Church, 3910 Highland Avenue, with local makers, artisans, and small businesses.
What this adds up to on Main Street and Warren Avenue
Taken together, a Main Street bakery planned to become a cocktail bar after dark, a two-story Warren Avenue venue with games and a heated patio, and a Chicago pizzeria's first suburban location would cover more of the day than downtown's dining scene has covered before. Oak Brook Magazine described the Davies and Canning group's goal plainly: keep building Downers Grove as a destination. If the Rec League opens on its late-2026 schedule and Ranalli's opens in January, downtown will have more places to spend a whole evening by early next year.
New businesses within walking distance can change how a home near downtown fits your plans, and possibly how buyers see it. If you're curious what changes on Main Street and Warren Avenue could mean for your home's value or your next move, Anthony Provinzino is happy to go through the numbers with you, budget and financing included. Let's Connect.
