Gift Biz Unwrapped | Women Entrepreneurs | Bakers, Crafters, Makers | Startup

Jim has spent over thirty years in the restaurant business. Companies he’s worked with that you may recognize even if you aren’t local, are Stouffers Restaurant Corporation, Don Roth’s, and Crawdaddy Bayou. Jim has traveled and consulted in the food & beverage industry for Universal Hospitality. He also started the Restaurant Row Hospitality Group, which empowered a number of independent restauranteurs while he was President of the Board at the Wheeling and Prospect Heights area Chamber of Commerce. Fourteen years ago, Jim decided to go off on his own and open Bluegrass. He’s taken the fine dining approach to a casual setting. Adding in traditional southern cuisine and a lively atmosphere, Bluegrass is always, “the place to be.” The Start of BluegrassBack in high school Jim started throwing parties in his backyard. It was fun for him to create an event and see it come to life. That’s how he caught the entertainment bug. From the very beginning, he treated it more like a business than just a high school pa