Wake-Up Call: Buttermilk Cafe is on its way to long-vacant Bakers Square site

Is the third time a charm? Village of Wilmette officials and the new property owners of 200 Skokie Blvd. hope so.

Local businessman Danny Shamoon reportedly has purchased the Wilmette property and former home to Bakers Square and is planning renovations to open Buttermilk Cafe, a popular breakfast-lunch business with four locations in Chicagoland. Shamoon is the business’s first franchisee.

A vacant building has sat at 200 Skokie Blvd. since 2019, and two public attempts to rebuild on the site (McDonald’s in 2023-’24, Caddyshack in 2021-’22) have failed. Wilmette Village Manager Mike Braiman called the newest plan “an outstanding result.”

“We’re ecstatic to have Buttermilk Cafe join the Wilmette community,” Braiman said. “Oftentimes thoughtful rather than expedient economic development leads to the best outcomes and while it has been a challenging site, this is an outstanding result for the neighborhood and community.”

According to its website, Buttermilk was founded in 2014 with a location in Geneva, a western suburb. Other locations have since opened in Naperville and Vernon Hills, with a fourth in development in Downers Grove. All current locations operate between 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. seven days a week.

The restaurant serves, “daring, next-level comfort food that fills the body and the soul. With portions so generous they turn breakfast into lunch, and lunch into dinner,” the website says. According to its online menus, breakfast features everything from omelets and skillets to pancakes and French toast plates — as well as Buttermilk’s trademark biscuit offerings. During lunch hours, Buttermilk also serves sandwiches, burgers and salads.

A few years ago, Shamoon — a Glenview resident and Northfield business owner (MyBody Complex personal training) — ate at Buttermilk Cafe in Vernon Hills. Loving the experience, he asked a store manager if the business franchised. He learned Buttermilk ownership was working on a franchise model and was able to get in on the ground floor.

The location in Wilmette also seemed “serendipitous,” he said. Shamoon’s wife grew up in Skokie and had “sentimental connections” to the property, and North Shore friends and clients helped him understand the significance of the site.

“Every Wilmette resident I talked with really missed that place being open,” he said. “There is no better way to give back to Wilmette than rejuvenating a place they already had.”

Braiman said the Village’s public review of the new business can start whenever plans are submitted. If the buildout remains under 5,000 square feet, the plans would just need an appearance review; however, if it exceeds 5,000 feet, the business would need a special-use permit.

Shamoon knows much is left to be decided, but he hopes to kickstart the Village process in April and open later this year.

Buttermilk Cafe, he said, will bring a modern breakfast option to Wilmette and charm guests with a high level of service and energy.

“It’s not just about the food; the service is huge for me,” Shamoon said. “I love the quality of service and the atmosphere. I’m a city kid and need something more modern, bright, energetic. I want to do that with the breakfast restaurant and the only one that I’ve seen do that is Buttermilk.”

Two strikes

In the wake of the pandemic, two restaurants went through a significant portion of Wilmette’s public-review process to take over 200 Skokie Blvd. Neither made it.

The property nearly became Murray Bros. Caddyshack restaurant, but in 2022 ownership scrapped the idea in the middle of the process. The concept, which would have been the third Caddyshack restaurant from the Wilmette-native Murray brothers, was protested by some neighbors with concerns over traffic and the business’s later hours.

Next up was McDonald’s, which planned a 4,100-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru at the Wilmette site.

McDonald’s officials had estimated the location could see approximately 1,000 transactions per day with between 70-80 percent of visitors expected to utilize the drive-thru, which was an aspect of the proposal that drew concern from both residents and Village officials.

Trustees unanimously denied the proposal in January 2024.

Braiman said the Village has worked with Shamoon for close to a year on finding a home for his Buttermilk franchise, facilitating discussions between Shamoon and the 200 Skokie Blvd. property owners.

“We were in regular communication with the seller to ensure they remained engaged with Danny and his team during this time,” Braiman said.

Shamoon said he has already had conversations with some of the property’s neighbors, and he plans on more to come.

He said Buttermilk’s Wilmette location plans to follow its predecessors and close by 2:30 p.m.

“We’ve been speaking to the neighborhood and would never have moved forward if the neighbors said they didn’t want this,” Shamoon said. 

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