Fox Haven Square Keeps Opening Before Its Own Signs Say So

On Sept. 11, Rosebud Steakhouse published a web page for its new St. Charles location at 300 N. Kirk Road. The page was headed "Opening Soon" and gave no date. The restaurant was already open by then. Its OpenTable listing had announced 3 p.m. on Sept. 1 as the time its doors would open. Tri-Cities Central's Sept. 3 newsletter reported that Rosebud had "just opened this week."

The same thing has happened across the whole 7.5-acre development next to the old Charlestowne Mall site. Announced dates at Fox Haven Square have slipped all year, and a few tenants have opened ahead of their own announcements. A handful of quieter records have been far more accurate: liquor-license approvals in City Council minutes, a working reservation book, and dated photos of construction. As of early October 2026, those records show a usable east-side evening that already exists, plus a short list of places that are still forecasts.

The evening that already works

Five businesses at Fox Haven Square are confirmed open. Together they're enough for dinner, a workout and a haircut without driving downtown.

• Simple EJ's Kitchen & Tap was one of the first two restaurants to open. It cooks from scratch and has a 22-foot LED sports wall, interactive darts and a family membership with weekday hours when kids eat free.
• fire + wine opened alongside it. Its own St. Charles page now reads "Now Open at Fox Haven Square."
• Rosebud Steakhouse serves dinner from 3 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The menu covers steakhouse, Italian and seafood dishes. There's bar and patio seating, a private lot, and three private dining rooms that seat 45, 24 and 10.
• Glow Lagree runs 45-minute, full-body, low-impact classes. Grip socks are required.
• OS Salon opened in June in the development's north building. It's the fourth location for a group of local siblings who grew up spending time at Charlestowne Mall. It's open Tuesday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday until 7 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's closed Sunday and Monday.

The cluster had enough draw by September for Tri-Cities Dinner Club to hold its first Fox Haven event there on Sept. 24. The club reserved tables at Rosebud, fire + wine, Simple EJ's and Cooper's Hawk around the corner. Those four restaurants are the east side's current dinner options.

The calendar that keeps moving

The open list is short and settled. The forecast list is where the dates have shifted. Tri-Cities Central's Aug. 18 progress report is the most complete snapshot of what was promised. Here is how each promise has held up since.

Rosebud is the one that opened. It missed its August target by a matter of days and then got ahead of its own website. Swank's mid-September target has passed with no confirmed opening. The team behind Fulla Beans in Itasca has described a lounge with a fireplace and couches near the entrance. The menu runs from coffee and pastries in the morning to sandwiches in the afternoon, plus a wine list. As of this writing, the Swank website offers no opening notice or hours.

Solaie Wellness Spa needs a careful reading. Its website lists a St. Charles address, weekly hours and an appointment widget. No grand-opening announcement has followed the August report that one was "coming soon." A booking button shows up early in any build-out, so it doesn't confirm the spa is open.

Paperwork shows up before the paint

The city record has been a steadier guide than any banner. At its Sept. 8 meeting, the St. Charles City Council approved liquor-license applications for Lou Malnati's at 3050 E. Main St. and Swank at 200 N. Kirk Road, Unit B. Neither license shows that a business is serving yet. It does show that the operator has cleared a step that comes late in the process, after the lease is signed and the build-out is well along.

Lou Malnati's has the clearest trail. The Chicago deep-dish chain signed its lease in spring 2026 and is converting the former On The Border building at the edge of Route 64. Plans call for 218 indoor seats, a private dining room, a full bar and a patio, and the company expects 80 to 100 jobs. Tri-Cities Central photographed the site on Monday, Aug. 17, mid-construction. With the license approved in September and the late-fall target still in place, it's the most likely next opening at Fox Haven. Still, no opening date has been announced.

The east side's newest name shows up downtown first

Lou Malnati's next public appearance in St. Charles isn't on Kirk Road. It's at a Family Fun Booth at the 41st annual Scarecrow Weekend downtown, where visitors can play Plinko for prizes, coupons and a chance at free pizza for a year. The restaurant hasn't opened yet, but it's already introducing itself at the city's best-known fall event.

Scarecrow Weekend runs from noon to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11. More than 120 handmade scarecrows will be on display, and visitors vote for their favorites. The Autumn on the Fox Craft Show in Pottawatomie Park adds more than 100 vendors. Patch's preview adds the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and Ghostbusters appearances, along with the Family Zone in Lincoln Park, the Riverside Activity Zone and First Street Plaza.

The St. Charles Alliance's Sept. 25 preview lists several new additions:

1. Colonial Ice Cream is marking its 125th anniversary with its Kitchen Sink Ice Cream Truck in the Municipal Building parking lot. Free scoops of chocolate chip, mint chip and vanilla are scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.
2. Chris Larsen, the "Pumpkin Butcher," is a professional carver featured on Food Network's Halloween Wars. He'll be carving all weekend in the Riverside Activity Zone.
3. Kimmer's Ice Cream brings its new truck to the Lincoln Park Family Zone from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and all day Sunday.
4. The Arcada Theatre will sell pizza and pretzels in the Riverside Activity Zone.

Lou Malnati's doesn't need Scarecrow Weekend to hit its opening date. But its booth on the downtown festival grounds and its license in the September minutes both point the same way, and the Rosebud page never did.

The biggest piece still has no date

The largest planned venue at Fox Haven has the thinnest trail of all. In April, Tri-Cities Central described Match House, a 20,000-square-foot restaurant and café concept from Brad Parker Hospitality, projected to open closer to year-end. By August, the same newsletter called Parker Hospitality's project Harbor House Paddle & Provisions, a three-story sports and entertainment venue from the group behind The Hampton Social. The announced plans include padel and pickleball, duckpin bowling, table tennis, darts, a café and wine bar, a sports bar and rooftop entertainment. No published source explains whether the change reflects a new name or a different concept. The August report gave no opening date, and nothing newer has turned up.

Taco Mucho, a family-run taqueria with a location in Oak Park, is in the same position. It's on the plan with no timeline. The September council approvals named Lou Malnati's and Swank, and neither of these two. Until one of them turns up in the minutes, the east side's dinner options are the same four tables the Dinner Club booked on Sept. 24.

If you're curious how a growing east side changes daily life in St. Charles, or what Fox Haven's next openings might mean for nearby streets, Kimberly Zahand Team follows these projects record by record, the same way this post does. Let's work together.