Village OK's Palatine Restaurant To Reopen After Workers Move Out

PALATINE, IL — A Palatine restaurant at E. Dundee Road can get back to business after the village ordered it to close for two weeks after the fire department found that 3 male workers were living in the basement. According to the Daily Herald, Village Manager Reid Ottesen found during a Tuesday hearing that The Dream Place took care of code violations, paid a $2,000 fine, and will have to pay the cost of the hearing's court reporter within 10 days. Therefore, the Chinese restaurant can resume operations, the news report said.

The restaurant was fined last month for violating village code after the workers used the basement to live and sleep, where no smoke or carbon monoxide alarms were found, Palatine firefighter Brian Stennett told the Daily Herald. The fire department was called to the restaurant around 1:45 a.m. on Sept. 6, where they found a pot of food on a burner and a worker who woke up when firefighters got inside.

More:

• Workers Found Living In Basement Of Palatine Restaurant
• Restrictions For Palatine Business Signs 'Not Uncommon': Village

According to the Daily Herald, the village's sanitarian, Nicole Nichols was called to the restaurant and took photos of a bucket of urine, mattresses, a dresser, and pillows, among other items. The basement also has two bathrooms, Stennett told the news source. The restaurants manager, Xiao Lin, said due to an increase in rent, the workers were in between apartments and were staying in The Dream Place's basement for "a couple days," according to the Daily Herald. Lin said Tuesday two of the three workers left Illinois, and the other is living in a Palatine apartment, the news source added.

>> Read more on the restaurant's status via the Daily Herald.

According to village documents, Nichols visited the restaurant on Aug. 5 and 20, as the business has been open for carryout after a brief shutdown at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. On Aug. 20, a reinspection was conducted to follow up on what was found two weeks prior.