'Perfect fit': New owners of state's oldest bar are ready to build on establishment's traditions

Before the advent of the automobile, motion pictures or radio, The Village Tavern wet the whistles of those living in or passing through what would become the Northwest suburbs.

The oldest tavern in Illinois opened in modern-day Long Grove in 1847 as the Zimmer Tavern and Wagon Shop. Later renamed The Village Tavern, the establishment at 135 Old McHenry Road received Long Grove's first liquor license - signed by Village President Robert Parker Coffin - after the village's 1956 incorporation.

Ownership has changed hands over the years, but one thing has remained the same: It's a family operation.

Now, following in the tradition of the Zimmer, Didier, Sayles and Ullrich families before them, the Jarvis family of Arlington Heights has acquired the historic tavern.

Will and Elaine Jarvis, daughter Nicole Jarvis and her husband, Scott Wallace, say they are ready to build on old traditions and add to the tavern's lore

"We loved the history," Nicole Jarvis said. "And we loved the fact that it has been family owned for 176 years."

Will Jarvis went in search of a new venture after the billiards and sports bar he owned in Buffalo Grove was forced to close due to the redevelopment of the shopping center where it operated.

They had looked at more than 50 establishments when they learned that Mary Ann Ullrich had put up the Village Tavern up for sale.

"We just kind of fell in love with it when we came in," Elaine Jarvis said.

Much of the tavern looks unchanged from its horse-and-buggy era. A work of stained glass dating back to the 1850s features prominently, as does a clock that was part of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

There have been notable additions over the years, including a bar that comes from the original McCormick Place. Several framed photos on the walls recall other milestones in the tavern's history.

Nicole Jarvis said the menu remains the same, including favorites such as its Reuben sandwich, chicken salad, broasted chicken and fish fry. There is a local flavor to the food, with meat supplied by Dorfler's in Buffalo Grove and the apple pie slices from the Apple Haus in Long Grove.

Live music, a staple for The Village Tavern over the years, also will continue. And the new owners have retained the prior ownership's staff, including Valerie Krause, who has worked there since 1976.

"They're doing a fantastic job," said Krause, whose mother also worked at the tavern. "They're hands on."

New wrinkles will include replacing the resale shop that had been operating out of the basement with billiards tables.

Mary Ann Ullrich, whose family owned the tavern for 61 years, said she decided to sell after her husband passed away last year.

"It was just time for me to step away and take care of my family," she said.

Ullrich calls the new owners "the perfect fit."

"When I decided to move forward and sell it, I felt it was very important to find the right fit for the Village Tavern, finding a family that appreciated the traditions that would move this forward," she said. "Hopefully, they will have this for another 60-some years."