'Bringing life back to downtown': Dominican restaurant opens in Waukegan
El Patio Café & Lounge has opened in a historic Genesee Street building in downtown Waukegan, becoming the only Dominican restaurant between Chicago and Milwaukee and reactivating a long-vacant corner that had a 50-year-old "restaurant" sign.
Diners walking into the newly opened El Patio Café & Lounge in downtown Waukegan will notice a bicycle with a blender bottle mounted where a basket might ordinarily be.
Elinelsy Castillo, the restaurant's owner, said the bicycle is a blender and that, rather than flipping a switch to start it, someone must mount the bike and pedal until the mixing is done.
"I saw it online," Castillo said. "We use it to make smoothies and other drinks."
El Patio opened on July 10 in the midst of Scoop Waukegan in a historic restaurant building on Genesee Street, making it the only Dominican eatery between Chicago and Milwaukee.
Planning a grand opening later this year, Castillo said she was unaware of Scoop Waukegan and the thousands of people it brings to the city each summer.
"We saw the crowds and moved some tables outside," Castillo said. "We told people they could experience something new, Dominican food, and we were opening for the first time."
Local residents have seen a blue sign, nearly two stories tall with white lettering reading "restaurant," for more than 50 years. The space was originally a diner, then a Chinese eatery, and it sat vacant for the past seven years. So did the entire three-story building for the past few years.
Developer Mikki Schuck bought the building in late 2024 with the intention of fully renovating the top two stories, previously offices, into luxury apartments and bringing a restaurant back to the ground floor. The apartments were ready and rented in May 2025, but the eatery took longer.
"The sign was a symbol in downtown Waukegan for more than 50 years," Shuck said. "This helps return Waukegan to the way it was before. We're bringing life back to downtown Waukegan."
The menu
Along with its unique way of mixing drinks, El Patio offers a menu of Dominican dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Items include $5 empanadas, yaroa, mangu and chimi, as well as a few other dishes from the Caribbean and some traditional American offerings for breakfast.
A "three-hit" mangu comes with fried Dominican plantains, fried Dominican salami, fried cheese, fried eggs and sautéed red onions. It is also served on a bun as a three-hit burger. Two female Dominican chefs prepare the food.
About the owner
Castillo is a clinical psychologist who came to Lake County from her native Dominican Republic in 2021. She said she originally wanted to open a coffee shop, but when she saw the size of the restaurant, her idea changed.
"This was too big for a coffee shop," she said. "There is no Dominican restaurant in Waukegan. There was no Dominican restaurant between Chicago and Milwaukee. There are a lot of Dominicans here in Waukegan."
Hours and events
The restaurant is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, and is closed Sundays. It offers a variety of coffee choices, including six brews of hot coffee, four types of iced coffee, hot and iced matcha teas and 10 flavorings, some of which are sugar-free, which can be added on request.
Special events, some after regular hours, are also planned. Castillo said they often include other businesses, such as the Waukegan Music Exchange providing the music, or Casita di Suenos selling plants and small vinyl records.