Kimbal Musk's Fresh Casual Eatery Breaks Ground In Vernon Hills

VERNON HILLS, IL — Kimbal Musk, the brother of tech billionaire Elon Musk, will open the 10th location of his Next Door restaurant chain next spring at Mellody Farm shopping center in Vernon Hills. Describing itself as an "urban casual American eatery serving real food sourced from American farmers," the restaurant is part of the Kitchen Restaurant Group, founded by Musk and Hugo Matheson. Crain's Chicago Business reported groundbreaking at the Vernon Hills site took place Thursday.

The group opened its first Chicago area eatery, The Kitchen, four years ago in River North. Next Door started in Colorado in 2011 and now has nine locations. Musk told Crain's he thinks it could grow to include 2,000 locations nationwide and 20 in Chicagoland, suggesting it could serve a gap in the casual dining market among millennial clientele.

The $200 million, 33-acre Mellody Farm project is expected to be completed this fall with 260,000 square feet of retail space across the street from Hawthorn Mall at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Route 60. Business already announced for the retail development include R.E.I., Whole Foods and Kuma's Corner.

The Vernon Hills Next Door will be Musk's 17th restaurant opening, the Chicago Tribune reported. Other establishments planned for the Mellody Farm shopping center include the chains B. Good, Cafe Zupas, City Barbeque, City Works Eatery & Pour House, Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar.

Read more: Crews Break Ground On Mellody Farm Development »

The new Next Door restaurant will feature a large patio and an outdoor garden and focus on serving food comprised of sustainable, locally sourced ingredients, Crain's reported. Musk and Matheson have been involved in Chicago ventures since 2012, when they created a series of learning gardens in Chicago Public Schools. The Big Green program now includes 175 farms operated by students, who can then sell their produce to local businesses and restaurants. Musk – a board member of SpaceX and major investor in SpaceX – also plans to expand another urban farm program he started in New York that grows vegetables hydroponically in shipping containers to a piece of land in Englewood.

A residential development on the Mellody Farms site was completed last month, with rental units available with leases beginning in September.