It’s a Southern Thing, but it’s coming to Naperville.
It’s a Southern Thing Kitchen & Bar is set to open for dinner service Monday, with hours running 4 to 9:30 p.m.
The restaurant, which Managing Partner Pete Susca started in 2017 in Durham, North Carolina, is spreading north at the request of a business contact of Susca’s father, a Naperville man who loves the concept and wanted it closer to home.
The restaurant is taking the former space of World of Beer at 1727 Freedom Drive, Suite 121, in an area near I-88 and several hotels that is known as a dining destination. Setting up shop here required building out a new kitchen, since the global-themed bar allowed bring-your-own-food but did not cook anything on-site.
“It was kind of like a closet,” Susca said about the World of Beer kitchen. “My walk-in closet down in Durham was bigger than the kitchen here.”
The opening of It’s a Southern Thing’s second location comes during the COVID-19 pandemic because the wheels were set in motion for the expansion before the outbreak began, Susca said. The restaurant took possession of the property in February and originally hoped to open in April.
Picture Source: Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
