To paraphrase an old song, the big wheel will keep on turning July 20 when Emmett’s Brewing Company’s annual Big Wheel Race moves to summer as part of the West Dundee tavern’s 25th anniversary brewfest.
Emmett’s owner Andy Burns said they held their first Big Wheel Race in 2007 when he and a group of friends decided it might be fun to borrow their kids’ toy Big Wheels to face off in a competition down hilly Washington Street on St. Patrick’s Day.
“The rest, as they say, is history,” said Burns, who held the event annually until the COVID-19 pandemic arrived.
But March weather can be cold and unpredictable so why not change the date to July and use it to salute the bar’s silver anniversary.
“Our team made a decision post-COVID to reintroduce the Big Wheel race as a summer event and extend the celebration to include music and area microbreweries,” Burns said. “We figured warmer weather would make the event more enjoyable for spectators.”
But that’s not the only thing they’ll be doing to ring in the start of the next 25 years. The anniversary party also will include a car show, live music, and a food and beer tent with brews from Emmett’s and other craft breweries.
Emmett’s made its debut in 1999, and expanded to include a location in downtown Downers Grove in 2004 and a third in downtown Palatine in 2007.
Burns’ entrepreneurial efforts also include a building he owns near West Dundee Village Hall. He leases out first-floor space to the Elder + Oat coffee shop and bakery and rents boutique apartments on the second.
In mid-August, Burns will be opening El Pato Loco, an urban taqueria in a building he owns two doors east of Emmett’s. That one has apartments on the floor above it as well.
“El Pato Loco means the crazy duck (in Spanish), and the name has to do with being close to the Fox River,” he said.
Expanding his holdings in West Dundee is a way to influence the downtown’s “ecosystem.” he said.
“My family lives in town. We shop at the same stores, send our kids to the same schools. That helps to further cement the strong bond that our business has in the community,” Burns said.
As for getting started in the brewpub business, Burns said he first had a taste of the craft beer world as a college kid, working a summer job as a carpenter’s assistant for a boss who was a home brewer.
After college, he did a stint in the Marine Corps flying reconnaissance drones and was introduced to the booming craft beer scene in California while stationed there, he said. It became his calling to help grow a similar scene in the Chicago area, he said.
Emmett’s is named after Burns’ grandfather. Opening day was Monday, Sept. 13, 1999, a day Burns remembers vividly.
“It was a few days shy of my 29th birthday, and my wife Suzanne and I welcomed our first born son, Jack Emmett, into the world the day before,” he said. “Looking back, I find it hard to imagine how we juggled everything. This was our family’s first foray into the restaurant business and the learning curve was steep.”
He and his business partners knew early on that their success would be tied to the bonds they forged with the communities in which they are located, Burns said.
“That strategy drove us to search for opportunities and locations that are typically located in a town’s old downtown,” he said. “A sense of history and a sense of place also has been a key part of our strategy. We purposefully steered away from the homogenous retail environments found throughout the suburbs.”
As part of their anniversary celebration, Emmett’s brewers are making a special beer that will be available in early September. It will be offered in a special keepsake commemorative glass.
“And later this year we will be rolling out a new menu that highlights customer favorites from the last 25 years,” Burns said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
