By Michelle Talsma Everson
Local entrepreneur and business owner Joey Lucidi loves his community; so much so, that he both lives here and specializes in creating businesses here, too.
“I always knew this place was special, but the northwest Peoria area has been out of this world during these difficult times,” Lucidi shares. “The support they have shown is second to none.”
Lucidi is the owner of Westside Concepts, which is home to three Haymaker restaurants, the Social on 83rd, and the newly opened NW Coffee. In addition, Westside Concepts has two more concepts in the works: Fire House Event Center and Cantina Gueros.
“While the concepts are all very different, the goal is the same: to be your neighborhood bar or restaurant where you can feel great about bringing family and friends for any and all occasions,” according to Westside Concepts.
NW Coffee, located at 28615 N. El Mirage Road, just opened on July 28. “I’ve lived in the Vistancia area since 2008 and I never understood why we didn’t have a little place to hang out; a neighborhood coffee shop of our very own.”
Lucidi says that NW Coffee blends right into the community – capturing the business crowd in the morning and local families toward the afternoon.
When it comes to Fire House Event Center, he notes that the space is actually the original Peoria firehouse. His brother had it as a distillery and they repurposed it to be an event space due to the lack of event spaces in the area.
“I know that during COVID-19 is not the best time to have an event space,” Lucidi says. “But eventually this will be a big asset for the Northwest Valley.”
One of his most highly anticipated concepts is Cantina Gueros, which will open later this year. Lucidi says that the restaurant is poised to be a refreshing blend of modern Mexican cuisine fused with new taqueria-inspired flavors like street tacos, elote, and flavorful nachos.
More than six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Lucidi knows that supporting and building within his local community is more important now than ever.
“With all of our locations needing to be at 50 percent occupancy, it’s definitely hurt us,” Lucidi says. “But we’re grateful to the community and are doing our best considering all of the challenges. We are overly cautious—all locations are adhering and exceeding all government health and safety regulations.”
When asked why he chose to specialize in Northwest Valley and West Valley businesses, Lucidi says, “I live here. It’s beautiful here. This is home.”
To learn more about Westside Concepts, visit westsideconcepts.us.
