Glencoe's New Clubhouse Restaurant Is Built for Winter, and the Village Shares the Check

The Village of Glencoe gave November 11 as the opening date for The Westley, the restaurant inside the new clubhouse at Glencoe Golf Club. That date falls after most of the golf season has ended. It fits the plan, because the building and the contract behind its kitchen were designed to bring in money in the months when nobody is on the fairways. Under the Village's agreement with the operator, part of every dinner, cocktail and catered party at 621 Westley Road goes back to Glencoe.

A clubhouse sized for people who don't golf

The numbers show who the building is meant for. The Record North Shore reported that the $15.7 million clubhouse can hold 300 people across its indoor and outdoor spaces. That includes a 100-seat main dining room, a 60-seat bar, a terrace for 75 and a 50-person private event room. A pro shop needs a small fraction of that.

At the October 23 ribbon-cutting, Village President Howard Roin noted that the 126-acre club sits on both Village and Cook County Forest Preserve land. He said it is open to all Cook County residents, not only golfers and not only people who live in Glencoe. Village Manager Philip Kiraly added that the building has room for simulators covering more sports than golf. It also has LEED Silver certification, geothermal heating and cooling, and bird-safe glass.

Matt Siebert, a member of the Village's Golf Advisory Committee, told The Record that the new facilities will allow year-round activity after the course closes for winter:

"It was in dire straits. You could never host an event like this there. This one's gonna be a huge asset for Glencoe, not just for the golfers, but for the whole community."

He was describing the old building, which officials had said was past its useful life as early as 2012. A 50-person private room and a 100-seat dining room were never going to fit inside it.

How the money moves

The large rooms make more sense once you see the contract. In 2023, more than 57% of Glencoe voters approved borrowing up to $15 million to rebuild the golf club's facilities, and a restaurant was part of that referendum. Since the vote, the Village has looked for a partner that could run dining and events all year. On August 19, 2026, trustees unanimously approved a contract with Clubhouse Group to run food service, and The Record laid out the terms.

The contract runs five years, with options for two more five-year renewals. Clubhouse Group also collects and remits the local food and beverage tax.

The highest percentages apply to events, and room rentals go entirely to the Village. The Record notes that the golf season typically gets underway around April 1. After the course closes for winter, the clubhouse still has the dining room, the bar and the private room to sell. The Record describes the golf club as a nonprofit, self-funded entity governed by the Village Board. That makes a wedding reception in February or a holiday party in December part of how a public course pays its own way.

The Westley's site lists holiday parties, rehearsal dinners, baptisms, bar and bat mitzvahs, milestone birthdays and corporate dinners among the events it hosts. It offers thirteen banquet and event menus, ranging from passed hors d'oeuvres to plated dinners.

Who runs the kitchen

Glencoe issued a request for proposals in August 2025 and received five bids. A 10-member advisory panel narrowed them down. It included Roin, Trustee Joe Halwax, two local restaurateurs, residents and Village staff. A tasting decided between the last two finalists.

The winner was the group behind Grill House and Cabo Grill in Northbrook and Backyard Grill in Highland Park. It goes by Clubhouse Group in the contract and also operates as Housepitality Group. The Record identified the owner as Nick Drivas, a Glenbrook North High School graduate. The group has run interim food service at the course since March, which included an on-site food trailer while the clubhouse was being built.

A week of dinners on Westley Road

The menu on The Westley's website is built to bring diners back several times a week. Each night has its own dinner theme:

1. Monday, Southern Comfort. Fried chicken or brisket with all the fixings.
2. Tuesday, Tacos & Tequila. Tequila flights and tomahawk tacos.
3. Wednesday, Greek To Me. A Mediterranean feast from the grill.
4. Thursday, Bada Bing. Pasta and vino.
5. Friday, Friday Fish Fry. Beer-battered catch of the day.
6. Saturday, Prime Time. USDA prime rib in ladies' and gentlemen's cuts.
7. Sunday, Sunday Short Rib Supper. A traditional family dinner.

The regular menu has a $36 lobster roll, $44 grilled Ora King salmon, a $65 center-cut filet mignon and a $95 prime bone-in ribeye. Filet mignon sliders are $18.

The bar is called the 1921 Bar. It pours wine by the glass, local beer on tap and cocktails with golf names such as the Birdie Mule, The Green Jacket, Caddie's Transfusion and the Fairway Paloma. The house drink is the 1921 Old Fashioned, made with bourbon, demerara, angostura, orange bitters and a luxardo cherry.

The year in the name explains why this is a public course. According to the restaurant's history, a group of Glencoe residents set out in 1921 to build a golf course open to everyone as an alternative to private country club membership. The new contract follows the same idea, with Village voters funding the clubhouse and a private operator paying the Village a share of what it earns there.

OpenTable lists lunch daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and dinner daily from 4 to 9 p.m., and reservations are taken there.

Why the opening landed in November

The original schedule had the building ready in August. Public Works Director Monica Sarna told trustees that the clubhouse was first due on August 14. It slipped two weeks, then moved again to September 11 under a $99,935 change order, the sixth on the project since March 2025. She cited a very wet summer that delayed exterior work and an unknown underground storage tank that crews found and removed. A Cook County inspection also required more lighting and a revised detention pond. The change order brought W.B. Olson's construction contract to $15.7 million.

The clubhouse was dedicated in late October. The Village says the pro shop, simulators and restrooms are now open, with The Westley scheduled to follow on November 11.

The simulators are part of the winter plan. The Glencoe Golf Club homepage lists TrackMan and multisport bays open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with full food and drink service. Its TrackMan booking page lists one-hour rentals starting at $60. The club describes the bays as a way for golfers to keep practicing through the winter months.

The winter the lakefront is closed

The timing matters more this year because of the beach. The Glencoe Park District's renovation page says Glencoe Beach closed September 8, 2026, with reopening planned for May 2027. The beach, the lower access road, the stairs, the beach house, the playground and the sand areas are all closed during construction. Until the lakefront reopens, the 300-person clubhouse on Westley Road is the newest public gathering space Glencoe has.

Much of what the community paid for at the course is meant for warmer months. Friends of the Glencoe Golf Club has raised more than $2.3 million toward a $3 million goal and presented the Village with a $1 million check at the October ceremony. The money has paid for a regulation-size croquet court, an event lawn, a pollinator garden, a community garden, a monarch butterfly sanctuary and 32 new trees. The Westley's 75-seat terrace is also built for warmer weather. Until spring, the clubhouse's winter offerings are all indoors: the simulator bays, plus The Westley's dining room and 1921 Bar, which were scheduled to open November 11.

When Abbie Homes Group tells a Glencoe home's story, places like the new clubhouse on Westley Road are part of it. If you're thinking about how your Glencoe home would present this spring, request your home valuation and we'll show you how we would market it.