Halal restaurant coming to Park Ridge; Kyrgyz owners to serve mocktails, but no alcohol

A restaurant that will follow Islamic dietary codes, including no pork products and no alcohol, is looking to open at the former location of D’Agostino’s Pizza and Pub at 742 W. Higgins Road in Park Ridge.

Pending city building inspections, co-owner Daniel Kadyrbekov said he anticipates a soft opening at Dua Italian Cuisine & Steakhouse before the end of the week and a grand opening by next week. The restaurant will be halal, meaning it will comply with Islamic food laws and will offer mocktails instead of alcohol and substitutions for pepperoni and other pork products.

Kadyrbekov, who is opening the retaurant with two fellow Kyrgyz partners, clarified that patrons will not be able to bring in their own wine or beer.

Kadyrbekov said the restaurant got its name from combining the first letters of his name and the names of his partners, Uluuk Toktonazar Uulu and Azamat Mamatkadyrov, into a three-letter name. Kadyrbekov also said “dua” in Kyrgyz translates to “prayer” in English.

The 3,600 square-foot location with a capacity of 130 people is not Kadyrbekov’s first dabble in the restaurant industry. He was in the trucking business for years and switched to Italian food and pizza after being inspired by a Brooklyn restaurant named Lucali. His Kyrgyz dough on an East Coast pizza was a success at his restaurant, Naudi Signature Pizza in Lincoln Park, earning a review from the Chicago Tribune. He said he sold the pizzeria two and a half years ago and has been working on the menu at Dua since then.

Kadyrbekov said the menu at Dua would consist of pizza, pasta, and “just about any steak you can name,” and a vegan menu as well. With no alcohol on the menu, he also counts on a bartender/barista to focus on coffee and mocktails.

Kadyrbekov anticipated guests will be spending $30 to $40 per meal. The menu also has more expensive options, like Japanese Wagyu beef. “They have special farms,” said Kadyrbekov. “Sometimes they even massage the cows.”

For now, Dua will serve lunch and dinner seven days a week, with plans to serve breakfast and brunch a couple of months after it opens, said Kadyrbekov.

The restaurant will have its food available on third-party food delivery apps like Door Dash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats, said Kadyrbekov, and he plans to use them for advertisement and as a faster, more convenient way to send food within eight to 10 miles of the restaurant. Dua won’t employ any drivers of its own, according to Kadyrbekov.

Toktonazar said he anticipates the restaurant will employ between 15 and 20 people, half of them working as full-time employees and half as part-time employees.

Kadyrbekov comes to Dua with experience in the restaurant industry, but his partners, Toktonazar and Mamatkadyrov, don’t. Toktonazar said the three partners go back a long time, and that he and Mamatkadyrov were in the trucking logistic business for 10 years.

Kadyrbekov said that with the economy in a tough spot, trucking was the first industry to get hit negatively. He told his friends that his restaurant was pretty successful, and the three sparked a dream to have a dining space for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Kadyrbekov also said he is working on a grand opening.