First Virtual Restaurant Opens In Downtown Arlington Heights

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — In the time of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses have been forced to think of new, creative ways to stay afloat, especially in the restaurant industry. With the recent opening of Chuck's Dockside, Arlington Heights can now boast its first virtual restaurant.

The Sparrow Hospitality team behind Passero, a trattoria-inspired American restaurant located at 3 South Evergreen Avenue, opened Chuck's Dockside on Feb. 3. The new restaurant specializes in "slinging fresh, handheld East-Coast-inspired classics."

"Virtual is a way to provide a new concept while utilizing the brick-and-mortar kitchen of an existing concept," Matt Peota, owner/chef of Chuck's Dockside, told Patch. "Passero has a rather large kitchen, and with reduction in capacity all year, we thought to launch this virtual concept to help fill the gap of business, also to provide more people to come back to work if the concept took off, and to provide another avenue of takeout for diners in this area that are so graciously supporting local restaurants."

Chuck's Dockside offers delivery and pickup options exclusively at Passero. Offerings on the menuinclude lobster rolls, chowder and bisque, coconut and garlic shrimp, cheddar chive biscuits, New England style smoked ribs, house made sweets and more.

"Lobster rolls are the No. 1 thing we do. It's something we've been trying to perfect from the right New England roll, the proper way to steam lobster, to making sure it's authentic as possible as you would receive on a dockside shack in Maine or Connecticut," Peota said.

The lobster rolls ($17) are served Maine style (cold lobster salad, celery, duke's mayo with coleslaw) or Connecticut style (served warm, poached in drawn butter with coleslaw).

Peota said it was important to have something for everyone at Chuck's Dockside, even those not fond of seafood. With that, the restaurant offers cherrywood smoked baby back ribs ($15 half rack/$22 full rack). He said for the dish the kitchen utilizes maple bourbon BBQ sauce to give it a Northwoods east coast feel.

"It's a limited menu of the freshest seafood we can find, sometimes a seafood dish will change as fishing seasons change," Peota said. "Part of being sustainable is to not deplete one. Fish or shellfish too much and allow it to reproduce back to levels that are acceptable for fishing. We will always take that in mind when preparing the menus."

The restaurant is named after Peota's late grandfather, "Chuck," who loved fishing and was known to bring home his daily catch for dinner. Peota and his wife also named their daughter, Charlee, who is now 5 and lovingly referred to in the family as "Chuck No. 2." Peota said she also has a knack for fishing having caught her first ocean trout last year in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Being in a pandemic, we were forced outside a lot [during the trip to the Gulf of Mexico] and to do things like fishing," Peota said. "The look of fascination and excitement she had when she caught her first fish reminded me a lot of the fishing I did as a child, and a grandfather that fished constantly in his free time."

Like most restaurants, Peota said Passero was not prepared for all the challenges that came up as a result of the pandemic. He said they tried to stay creative at the restaurant with an outdoor market over the summer, an online market, family meals, virtual cooking classes, and now, the launching of Chuck's Dockside.

"I wouldn’t say it was out of necessity, but it was hard to have to let staff go, and we tried hard to come up with other avenues of revenue that would not only boost sales, but allow us to bring staff back," Peota said. "It’s nice to have a great community backing you, and when you have that, there’s inspiration to exceed expectations."

Chuck’s Dockside is open 4-8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Prices range from $5-$22. Orders can be placed for pickup/curbside pickup by calling 847-814-8900 and delivery is available through Grubhub and UberEats. To learn more, visit https://chucksdockside.com/.

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