Restaurateur Megan Curren and chef Chris Curren are betting that oysters and improvisation belong together. Their next project, RILY, is a raw bar and live jazz venue slated to break ground in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles, sitting next door to their existing spot, The Idle Hour.
A raw bar with a soundtrack
Raw bars trade on freshness and ritual: shucking, brine, a squeeze of lemon, a cold drink. RILY layers a music program on top, positioning the room as a night out rather than a quick dozen before dinner. The 2,600-square-foot space is designed to host regional jazz acts alongside a well-stocked seafood counter.
What's on offer
- A rotating selection of oysters and shellfish
- Craft cocktails built for lingering
- Live performances from regional jazz musicians
- An intimate footprint that keeps the room close to the stage
Growing a suburban cluster
By building RILY beside The Idle Hour, the Currens are creating a small hospitality cluster in St. Charles, giving guests a reason to spend an entire evening in one spot. It is a strategy familiar from bigger cities, where operators anchor a block with complementary concepts, now arriving in the Fox River Valley.
Why suburbs, why now
Ambitious independent restaurants have increasingly looked beyond downtown Chicago to suburbs with disposable income and less competition for attention. A raw bar with live music is exactly the kind of concept that struggles to stand out in a dense urban market but can become a destination in a smaller town.
Construction is expected to begin in 2026, and the pairing of a chef-driven kitchen with a serious music booking policy could make RILY a template for how suburban dining rooms compete: not by imitating the city, but by offering an experience travelers will drive out for. If the shellfish is as sharp as the setlist, St. Charles gains a genuine draw.