Nick’s Tavern to open under new ownership

When Don Quaid had his first burger and beer at Nick’s Tavern after moving to Lemont 10 years ago, he was immediately smitten with the downtown establishment.

“I told my wife, ‘I really like this place. Someday I’m going to buy it,’” he said. “She just laughed.”

Now, almost a decade to the day Quaid made that pronouncement, his dream has become a reality.

He and his son, also named Don, recently bought the tavern at 221 Main St. They hope to open Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Previous owners Louie and Joanne Novak sold the business that was started by Joanne’s father, Nick Pappas, the bar’s namesake, in 1945.

Quaid said the menu will largely stay the same, keeping the Italian beef and cheese sandwiches and the former owner’s famous nearly one-pound burgers.

“I bought the secret (to those burgers) with the tavern,” Quaid said with a laugh.

Lemont resident Cindy Malak has seen firsthand how popular the burgers served at the tavern are.

“I saw a guy eat three of them one night — unbelievable,” she said. “I had a stomachache watching him.”

Malak herself has never been able to finish a whole burger.

“But my daughter did a few times,” she said. “She is an eater.”

For the last few weeks, the new owners have been renovating the tavern, but only slightly, Quaid said.

“We just dressed it up a bit,” he said.

For Quaid, who retired from Commonwealth Edison after 36 years, the endeavor has him charting new territory. But when he heard the tavern was sale, he knew the time was right.

“We talked to Louie and Joanne and they liked us and we liked the bar, so it was a match made in heaven,” he said.