Fuller House is a little easier to say than Vlahos House. So although the future restaurant at 35 E. First St. will be owned by Sam Vlahos and his sister Patricia Vlahos-Segretto, it will bear the familiar name of the Hinsdale family that came up with the idea.
Nearly 18 months ago, Doug Fuller, whose family owns Fuller’s Hardware and Housewares and the Fuller car washes, pitched the idea of converting the housewares portion of the store, which has an entrance on First Street, into a family style restaurant.
The plan evolved from a two-story restaurant with outdoor dining to a smaller establishment. The Fullers rented out space on the second floor of the building to a fitness studio.
Now comes word the Fullers have sold the entire building and the proposed restaurant. The Fullers will continue to operate the hardware store, but are pulling back on their restaurant ventures.
The Vlahoses said they also bought Dips ’n Dogs, although they will not take over the sandwich shop on the corner of First and Garfield streets until January.
The Fullers did not confirm the sale of Dips ’n Dogs.
Sam and Patricia Vlahos are co-owners of two of the Bricks Wood-Fired Pizza and Cafes in Wheaton and Naperville. In Bricks, customers order their food at a counter and then can carry it out or eat in the restaurant.
“This will be our first full-service restaurant,” Sam Vlahos said. “But our father has been in the restaurant business for 40 years. We grew up working in his restaurants.”
The steakhouse, Jonathan’s in Lombard, is probably his father’s most well-known restaurant, Sam Vlahos said.
Sam and Patricia Vlahos are familiar with Hinsdale, having grown up nearby in Oak Brook. Patricia’s husband also owns Zazu Salon in Hinsdale.
The town appealed to them, as did the opportunity to open a family-style, sports-themed restaurant here.
“It will be the first local pub-style restaurant in Hinsdale; some place you can grab a drink, watch a game and hang out,” Sam Vlahos said.
But it also will be a comfortable place for families to come and enjoy dinner, Vlahos-Segretto said.
Fuller House will be open seven days a week and have seating for about 120. The bar will be on the main floor, with seating around the bar, plus tables and booths. A mezzanine on the second-floor, reached by a wide curving staircase, has room for more tables. The restaurant will have a wood-fired pizza oven that cooks a pizza in two minutes. The menu also will include hamburgers, sandwiches, soups and salads.
“Everything will be made fresh daily,” Patricia said. “We have homemade salad dressings, sauces, fresh cut fries.”
The full selection of beer, wine and drinks will include local craft beers.
But the important question is, when will they open.
“By late December, or early January,” Vlahos-Segretto said.
The siblings said they will not rush it, because they want everything to be ready and the staff well trained before they open their doors.
“We will have two to three weeks of training,” Vlahos-Segretto said. “Every member of the wait staff will taste every item and every cocktail on the menu.”