Restaurateurs turn La Grange expansion into YouTube reality series

Part restaurant expansion.

Part reality show.

Almost all drama.

When a restaurant opens, patrons see a brand spanking new sparkling facility and usually everyone is happy and having fun.

But the buildup to that opening day is a different story completely, and Jonathan and Brianna Cowan remember some hard times when preparing to launch the Wooden Paddle restaurant in Lemont in 2017.

“We looked back at when we built our Lemont location and that had extreme drama,” Jonathan said. “We’re talking about a work stoppage for three months after firing a contractor.

“We fired him on just a horrible weather day, and on top of that, we were standing there and we could see some water from the roof coming through into the main level. It was coming out like a water fountain in the middle of the hallway and I remember tearing up and saying ‘what do we do here? This is so stupid!’”

Despite all of that, the Cowans are at it again.

They are planning on opening up a new restaurant and event venue in La Grange in 2025 at 23 Calendar Ave.

Was there drama putting this new restaurant together? You bet. The original plan was to open in 2023.

For the past six months, some of that drama was caught on video as the Cowans have made public a series of videos chronicling the ups and downs that go into opening a new place.

Through mid-December, they’ve posted 20 videos. Some of the titles include, “A Mood Killer? When the HVAC Killed the Vibe,” “Wells Go Up Oven Size Goes Down?,” “We found PAPER in our walls?” and “Our Oven Might Not Fit in Our Restaurant?”

The 20th episode dropped Dec. 16, and what started as a fun day with their kids, Kingsley and Flora, quickly reversed course when the couple saw how big the HVAC on the second floor was and how low it was hanging.

“It was like … pretty unsightly,” Brianna said in the episode.

“Oh, gosh. Oh God. I hate this,” she said upon seeing the installation for the first time.

Jonathan then tells the camera, “I might be dramatic sometimes but usually I go along to get along. But I felt sick to my stomach when I saw that.”

The episode ends with Brianna trying to come up with solutions while trying to keep the kids from falling through holes in the floor.

Originally, the Cowans wanted to chronicle the events leading up to the opening for their own use. But they soon let the world in on it by putting the videos on their Wooden Paddle channel on YouTube.

“I look back at episode 1 and I was like ‘I don’t even remember that,’ ’’ Jonathan said. “It’s kind of fun to have that documented just to see it.

“It’s a personal thing but we thought we would share it with everybody else.”

Having a camera around took getting used to.

“It was nerve-racking,” Jonathan said. “I don’t hate being on camera, but I don’t like it, necessarily. In the beginning, it was this uncomfortable feeling but at this point it’s second nature.”

The videos usually get more than 100 views but episode six, “I Have to Go to the Construction Site Alone?” racked up more than 1,000.

The couple turned the Old Towne Pizza Company in Orland Park into the first Wooden Paddle Pizza restaurant in 2013 before moving the operation to 212 Stephen St. in Lemont, repurposing a building erected in 1886.

The LaGrange building dates to 1926.

“Being a part of a historical project like that is very special to me,” Jonathan said, “It’s fun being a part of this adventure.”

He said that during lean times the couple would read self-development books and started writing down goals – a practice they still continue.

“It’s been a long journey and it’s fun that we are having some success and we’re actually making money,” Jonathan said. “We were able to make it because we were scraping by and had no lifestyle. We were children at the time.”

Meanwhile, there might be a time in the future when the Cowans can watch these videos and laugh about all of the hiccups that this project has gone through. But it’s not so comical now.

“The videos are being seen by people who can’t wait to see the new place open and they have been well-received,” Jonathan said. “But I did have a friend say that when he watches them, it stresses him out.

“Who knows what’s going to happen next?”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter.