February 23, 2024 / By mobanmarket
MOKENA, IL — When Joliet’s Dock at Inwood shut the lights off late last year, owner Rick Trafton was already thinking next steps. Ideally, they’d have found a spot they could slide into with little delay, back up and running within a few months.
As businesses shuttered in towns around him, many people nudged him to open up shop in places like Plainfield and New Lenox, the latter which saw the sudden closing of its Bulldog Ale House. But he had his heart set on a certain 3,000 square feet, right smack-dab in the middle of the town where he grew up.
Trafton and wife Julie have scooped up space on Front Street, next to the shuttered Tribes and in a building Trafton remembers seeing often as a child.
“To be able to come home, come full circle …” Trafton said. “…. To come back to Mokena—oh my God, it doesn’t get any sweeter. My wife is ecstatic, I’m ecstatic. We’re pumped up.”
Trafton’s previous location in Joliet closed in late 2023, after difficulties negotiating a lease with the Joliet Park District, which owned the space. As word spread of the closing, many tried to tug Trafton in different directions, but his heart called him home to the town his parents moved in the ’60s, and where they raised their family.
“Being there for my whole life, growing up there, I know it so well,” Trafton said. “To be the opportunity to be the anchor on Front Street, hopefully it’ll bring in others.”
Trafton grew up in Mokena, attending first grade at Carpenter School, a building that now houses Mokena’s Village Hall. He went on to third grade at Mokena Elementary, fourth and fifth grades at Willowcrest, and his high school years were split between Lincoln-Way East and Central. He later met Julie, married and relocated to Joliet. The Dock at Inwood was a hit locally, notching a successful five years and gaining plenty of fans along the way.
After successfully weathering the COVID-19 pandemic with a little ingenuity and the creation of its Margarita “Flights On The Fly,” Trafton spun that momentum into a food and beverage truck for special events, complimenting the offerings at its space at Inwood. Since the onset of COVID, The Dock has sold more than 500,000 margaritas, and the food truck is booked at 200 events each year, Trafton said. He noticed many of their customers came from the Lincoln-Way area; it was now or never to grab hold of that prime space on Front Street.
“The timing’s never perfect,” Trafton said. “It’s like closing on a house—we were looking and hoping to get lucky, hop into a good location, maybe get into something within a couple months. This place opened up—I could have gotten into several places faster, but this is the ‘A’ location.”
Vacant for approximately a decade, the interior is “a total gut job,” Trafton said, but he and Julie are eager to get their hands dirty and transform it into someplace “bright and fun with a modern twist,” Trafton said. They’re leasing the space, he added.
Julie Trafton envisions barnwood and plenty of white to brighten the space, Rick Trafton said.
“I must be crazy doing this again,” Trafton said, laughing. “You get sucked in, then you can never leave.”
They’ll keep the same menu—ranging from salads to barbecue, chicken to steak, tacos, burgers, and a signature mac and cheese—with some new touches, Trafton said. More salads, he said, with some additional weekend specials like steaks and ribs.
But mostly, they’ll listen to what people want.
“Within a month or two, the community’s going to tell us what we need, what they want,” Trafton said. “We’ll codify our menu to the area.”
Their perfectly-tweaked margarita mix will stay the same. “We spent a lot of time working on our homemade recipe for them,” Trafton said — and if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
“Great food, great drinks,” Trafton said. Great look—we’re excited about the look we’re going to unveil. It’s going to be a nice, classy look. We’re fired up for it.”
It’s special for Trafton to bring his current passion back to his hometown. Work will begin soon, with hopes of a fall opening, Trafton said. In the meantime, they’ll continue to offer special event service with their catering truck. Booking information can be found online.
Though their Joliet stay ended abruptly and Cemeno’s Pizza set to move into the space at Inwood, Trafton is ready to get started with The Dock on Front Street.
It all worked out, Trafton said.
“Things happen for a reason,” he said. “I think we’re going to be in a better place long-term.
“I’m giggly. We’re so excited.”
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