The Hideout of Schaumburg to celebrate reopening Friday after weekslong move next door

The Hideout of Schaumburg bar and restaurant is ready to open its new location on the former site of Smiling Buddha at 1220 Valley Lake Drive, next to the now vacant shopping center that was its original home.
Courtesy of Jennifer Strang

The Hideout of Schaumburg bar and restaurant will mark its grand reopening at a new location next door to the old with a ribbon-cutting at 3 p.m. Friday, less than four weeks after the move.

As quickly as the relocation and inspections went, they fell short of owner Jennifer Strang’s admittedly ambitious goal to be open in time for the Super Bowl on Feb. 11.

But she’s still excited about the next chapter for her business inside the former Smiling Buddha restaurant building at 1220 Valley Lake Drive in Schaumburg, after eight years as the only tenant of the Valley Lake Shopping Center.

“It’s a whole new beginning!” Strang said. “We’re just able to build and grow. Stay tuned. We’re going to get better.”

Among the changes are a building in better condition, a stage for karaoke, a two-stall women’s restroom, a walk-up bar for the gambling machines yet to arrive, and about 50% more space overall, including a larger kitchen.

The expanded menu Strang is aiming for with the move won’t be available immediately, but it is a work in progress.

“My cook is so excited!” she said.

Schaumburg Mayor Tom Dailly will be among the local officials attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Though Strang always was the only tenant of the Valley Lake Shopping Center during her time there, The Hideout took over the same unit where The Sponge Reef, Dawn’s Pub and Uncle Vern’s had been previous occupants.

Now the shopping center will be an entirely vacant building like Strang’s new site had long been. Smiling Buddha opened in 1976 and expanded in 1981, but has been shuttered for more than a decade.

Though Strang’s move was in part prompted by the nonrenewal of her lease, village officials said they’ve received no proposals for a change of use for the shopping center property.

While Strang believes the shopping center is likely to be demolished, she said her new location has all the parking it needs no matter what happens to the property next door.