Wonka Bar Holiday Pop Up At On The Rocks In Joliet: 10 Photos

JOLIET, IL ? The Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory hoopla has taken over one of Joliet's popular west side bars as On The Rocks, 1500 Essington Road, has turned the inside of its establishment into all things Willy Wonka for December.

The Wonka Bar Holiday theme will remain inside On The Rocks through Jan. 7.

If you look very carefully, you will find eight, yes eight, Oompa Loompas.

"People love it, and they're coming out with a new Wonka movie," remarked On The Rocks owner Lori Donofrio during Friday's interview with Joliet Patch's editor. "Sales have been up good."

This marks 10 years Donofrio and her husband Doug Wuerfl have owned On The Rocks. They recently doubled the size of On The Rocks by taking over the vacated space of the former bank next door, now giving them 3,000 square feet

"It's just a great neighborhood bar, anybody can come in here and feel welcomed and comfortable, everybody is welcoming and wants to make more friends," Donofrio said.

Since the Willy Wonka Holiday theme bar opened at 1500 Essington, one drink has stood out above the crowd.

It's the Wonka Bar Martini.

The unique drink features chocolate liquor, vanilla Absolut and Bailey's.

"The first few days, we sold like 80 of them," Donofrio remarked.

The other Wonka Bar drinks include:

• Peppermint Bark Holiday Ball
• Violet Beauregarde
• Sweet Tart Martini

On The Rocks has several events during the week that are fun, including Singo on Monday nights, Family Feud on Tuesdays, and bingo on Wednesday nights. Bingo offers cash prizes every week, while On The Rocks gives away lots of gift certificates as prizes for its other winners.

For Chicago Bears games, On The Rocks provides free food at halftime.

It's always kept a secret as far as what food will be offered, Donofrio said.

Sundays are also known for "loaded Bloody Marys," which are available all day long and include Chicken-N-Spice and White Castles.

Donofio said On The Rocks is quite involved in giving back to Joliet and Will County through charity work.

This month's featured charity is the Wish Upon A Star foundation.

"Every month is a new charity," she said. "And we donate a percentage of our sales."

And now that On The Rocks has doubled its size, Donofrio said her goals for 2024 include offering more live music events. "We are hoping next year to get more live music in," she said. "We have evolved into more events with DJs and live music, and we do all our charity stuff.

"We support the city, and we try and stick with Joliet and Will County charities."
If you walk into On The Rocks, you probably won't find the bar overtaken by people in their early 20s. "We have all ages," Donofrio said.

Above all, she wants first-time customers to leave feeling that On The Rocks is both "fun and safe. We change our themes up all the time."

On The Rocks is open 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, its hours are 11 a.m. to midnight.