If you read the Village of Western Springs' September/October 2026 newsletter, you probably think Davanti Enoteca is leaving 800 Hillgrove Avenue in November and Vasili's is moving in. That plan is canceled. Davanti is staying. On Hillgrove this fall, the printed record and the street don't match. The two big changes announced for the block are a restaurant swap and a streetscape rebuild. The first was called off and the second is still years from construction. The changes that actually reached Hillgrove this season are two small shops opened by local owners.
That matters when you plan a Friday dinner and when you make sense of the next notice about this stretch of downtown. Here is where each announced change stands as of early October 2026.
What the newsletter printed
The Community Development section of the September/October newsletter introduced Vasili's this way:
"In November, the restaurant space at 800 Hillgrove will become home to Vasili's, a restaurant that specializes in Mediterranean dishes that have been handed down through generations. Though Davanti will be missed, Vasili's also operates under the Scott Harris Hospitality group, and it will bring an exciting new option for Western Springs foodies!"
On September 8, 2026, Patch reported that the swap was off. Village spokesperson Selmin Cicek said that about a week earlier, Western Springs had been notified that the planned remodel of Davanti's space was canceled and that Davanti would stay at 800 Hillgrove. The newsletter line about November is a plan that has since been replaced. It doesn't confirm an opening date.
One company owns both restaurants
Bensenville-based Scott Harris Hospitality owns both Davanti Enoteca and Vasili's. So the change was never a new operator taking over a vacant space. It was one restaurant group deciding which of its own brands belonged at this address, and then reversing that decision.
Scott Harris Hospitality describes Vasili's as a Greek and Mediterranean concept, with family recipes cooked over a hearth and meals built around food, music and ouzo. Vasili's own website traces those recipes to "Papou Vasili," the grandfather of Scott Harris's wife. The concept already has a location in Naperville, according to Patch, so Western Springs diners who want to try it know where to go.
Davanti's own pages show it's still open. The Western Springs location page lists hours for every day of the week, along with reservations, pickup, delivery and menus. The dinner menu file linked there carries a September 10, 2026 date in its filename, two days after the Patch report. Scott Harris Hospitality's site still lists Davanti Western Springs as a private-event venue, and its private-events menu file is dated September 7, 2026. A restaurant on its way out doesn't usually put out new menus that week.
Hillgrove Tap shares the 800 Hillgrove address, and its website lists daily hours and a reservation link.
The changes that did happen came from local owners
Two businesses that were not announced as headline changes actually opened on the block between late August and early September.
The Clever Drinker held its ribbon cutting on Friday, August 28, at 4354 Johnson Avenue, just off Hillgrove. Patch identified the owners as Western Springs residents Aron Dorner and Alex Corral. Dorner previously lived in London and has a deep interest in European and global wines, Patch reported in a June 2026 profile. The owners planned to open retail first and add on-site pours later. The shop's website now describes a wine-focused bottle shop, concierge and curator, with a rotating by-the-glass pour menu. The doors opened to the public at noon on Saturday, August 29, the day after the ribbon cutting.
Moderation held its ribbon cutting on Friday, September 4, at 820 Hillgrove Avenue. The Village describes it as a women's clothing boutique. Moderation's own About page describes curated clothing, jewelry and accessories, with an emphasis on wearable styles and quality at affordable prices.
Here is the stretch as it stands this fall, set against what was announced:
| Address | Business | What was announced | Status, early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800 Hillgrove Ave | Davanti Enoteca | Replacement by Vasili's in November | Staying; remodel canceled |
| 800 Hillgrove Ave | Hillgrove Tap | Not part of the swap plan | Operating, daily hours posted |
| 820 Hillgrove Ave | Moderation | New boutique | Open; ribbon cutting September 4 |
| 4354 Johnson Ave | The Clever Drinker | New wine shop | Open; ribbon cutting August 28 |
Both small openings are now open with ribbon cuttings behind them. The one change pitched as a sure thing, the restaurant swap, is the one that fell through.
The street itself: years of planning before any construction
The other big announcement about Hillgrove is the street itself. The Hillgrove Avenue Phase I Engineering Project covers about 2,750 feet of Hillgrove between Hampton Avenue and Wolf Road, mostly within the existing right-of-way. The project site lists concrete, paver and permeable-paver roadway treatments, traffic calming, pedestrian amenities, landscaping and lighting, gateway features, limited drainage work, water, sewer and electrical upgrades, and green infrastructure. The Village describes the broader goal as improving pedestrian safety, accessibility and connectivity along the corridor.
On paper, that would remake the block. The timeline shows how far off it is. The project's own published schedule runs:
- Summer 2026: online survey, which closed July 31, plus outreach at Gathering on the Green and the Jammin' in July concert series, with design charrettes scheduled for July 29/30 and August 20
- September through October 2026: concept refinement
- November 2026: public open house
- February 2027: project development report complete
- Spring 2027: a second round of public outreach, ending with a public information meeting in June
- 2028 to 2029, tentative: Phase 2 design engineering
- 2030, tentative: construction
The Village's June 26, 2026 notice gives spring 2030 as a tentative construction start. Even if every step lands on time, the new pavers and lighting described on the project site are more than three years away.
What has been released so far is limited. The project-news page has two posts, both dated June 15, 2026. The document library holds three corridor analysis diagrams and an earlier streetscape-design work packet. No summary of the survey results or the charrette sessions has been posted. The survey page says only that the survey ran through July 31 and points residents to future outreach.
The next scheduled step is the November open house. The project site gives the month but no date or location yet. That meeting will likely be the first time the public sees how the concept work from this fall turned out.
Reading the next Hillgrove notice
This fall shows the gap between when something is announced on Hillgrove and when it actually happens. The restaurant swap went from a printed November date to a canceled remodel within one newsletter cycle. The streetscape has a summer of outreach behind it and at least three years of planning and design ahead. The Clever Drinker and Moderation, the two openings that actually changed the block, came from small operators who held their ribbon cuttings a week apart, on August 28 and September 4.
For Davanti, the most recent public word is the Village's statement to Patch on September 8, and the restaurant's own dated menus back it up. For the streetscape, the most recent public word is the project timeline, and the next fixed point on it is a November open house with no date yet. For a Friday evening on the block this October, Davanti, Hillgrove Tap, Moderation and The Clever Drinker are all open within a short walk of each other, south of the tracks. For the dining openings on the other side of downtown, our earlier post covers the fall Western Springs stopped driving to La Grange for dinner, and our Western Springs neighborhood guide covers the rest of the village.
At Loncar Realty, we track Hillgrove the way we track every block we work on, by checking what has actually happened, not just what has been announced, because a listing should describe the street as it is now. If you own near Hillgrove or Johnson and want to know what this fall's changes, and the streetscape plans still years away, mean for your property, request your instant home valuation and we'll go through it with you.
