MOUNT GREENWOOD — Brothers Sam and Joe Maglaris remember eating at Magic Restaurant while growing up in Mount Greenwood.
The pair plan to reinvent the restaurant at 3335 W. 111th St. by offering breakfast staples alongside several unique menu items. They've renamed the restaurant Bacon & Jam and expect to open next month.
"We just knew this place, and thought it would be nice to open something closer to home," said Sam Maglaris, who also scouted restaurants near West Town.
He and his brother will open their first restaurant in a spot that has struggled since catching fire on May 21, 2012. After an extensive renovation, it reopened as Antonios Cafe & Restaurant in 2014 and was rebranded with the familiar name Magic Cafe & Grill 1½ years later.
But neither concept seemed to resonate with customers, and the restaurant closed in August 2016.
The Maglaris brothers believe they can break the string of bad luck. To do so, they'll offer traditional favorites like omelettes, skillets, pancakes and French toast. Homemade corned beef hash — a staple at the original Magic Restaurant — will also be on the menu.
But the menu will also include items like red velvet pancakes, homemade andouille sausage, pulled-pork hash and Hollandaise sauce made from scratch. Customers can expect some interesting specials as well.
The restaurant will have a full waitstaff along with a lunch items, such as the "Bacon & Jam Burger." This hamburger will be topped with a fried egg, thick-cut bacon and a bacon-onion spread or jam, Joe Maglaris said.
"We know our audience. We know the community here," said Joe Maglaris, who lives in Oak Lawn and attended St. Catherine of Alexandria with his three brothers.
Joe Maglaris, 29, will be the chef at the restaurant that will be open from 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. He previously worked in kitchens at Maple Tree Inn in Blue Island, the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond and for Hilton Hotels.
Sam Maglaris, 31, a West Town resident, will handle the front-of-the-house operations. He most recently spent two years working as a missionary with his wife in Thailand.
But both brothers also worked for several years at their cousin's restaurant — Honey Field Restaurant and Pancake House in suburban Lockport. Their parents and two other brothers also live nearby and are helping out.
These family connections played heavily into the brothers' decision to make their debut in the same neighborhood where they were raised.
"For me, it was close to my house, and I knew the area. I am comfortable with the area," he said.
