Meet Robin Choi of Stella’s Batting Cages and Restaurant

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Choi.

Robin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have been cooking for 17 years. The bulk of my experience is specialized in sushi. My career started in Tucson, AZ. I stayed in AZ for ten years, and most of that time I was with a concept called, Ra Sushi, as a head Chef, I later transferred to Chicago. Shortly after I parted ways with Ra and continued cooking in the city. After such a long stint with the same concept I felt a need to explore other restaurants and operations. It was during this time I accepted a sous chef position at a concept called Kabocha in 2013. Kabocha distinguished itself as a “Japanese Brasserie” in the West Loop. I was brought in to write and execute a menu for their Raw Bar. Essentially, I ran the sushi program for this concept. I consider my time here a major turning point in my career. My eyes were opened to a new level and approach to cooking. Unfortunately, Kabocha closed shy of its first year. From there I went on to work at Japonais By Morimoto. Working here was a thrill. I saw a whole new level of sushi and the restaurant itself was top tier. Often times Chef Morimoto (of Iron Chef Fame) himself was behind the sushi line. For a little while I floated around the city cooking at the “hottest” spots that would hire me. To list briefly: Yusho, Boka group, Dokku and others. In October of 2014 I accepted a sous chef position at Furious Spoon. Once again, I was working under Chef Shin Thompson (Kabocha). I was brought on very early in the project and along the way my girlfriend Randa Shin was brought on as GM. Randa and I were an integral part of the opening and early operations of Furious Spoon. Furious was touted Best New restaurant 2015, hottest Restaurant opening, and Best Ramen repeatedly and on various publications around Chicago. After our first year the opportunity at Stella’s was presented to us.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For the most part, Stella’s has been pretty smooth sailing. Stella’s has been here since ’86, and we took over in February of last year. Its human nature for some to resist change, and some people expressed their reservations. I’d like to think since then, we’ve won them over. We knew we had to keep the standards like the hot dogs, burgers, and nachos etc., but I wanted to have a part of the menu where I could be a little creative and utilize my skill as a cook. I came up with a concept I coined “Ballpark-centric Streetfood”. At first, people were a little leery. Some were afraid I was gonna “screw up their beefs” and others were hesitant to have sushi (for instance), at a batting cage. I think we’re at the point now that the word’s got out and the neighborhood trusts what we’re trying to do. I feel like now we’re in a place that we’re getting a lot of support and people are really happy with the way we balanced keeping Stella’s the same and updating a few things here and there as needed.

Please tell us about Stella’s Batting Cages & Restaurant.
Stella’s is a batting cage, restaurant, and pro shop.

The batting cage would be the main attraction. We have 9 cages that operate at 7 different speeds. Our facility is indoors and heated during the winters. During the summers our back wall is retractable and weather permitting, our facility can become a covered outdoor situation. We offer speeds from 80 mph to hi arch soft balls. We pride ourselves on maintaining our machines to pitch consistent strikes at all speeds.

The restaurant offers ballpark favorites. We like to think that the recent following of our menu is becoming a growing attraction also. Since 1986 the neighborhood has enjoyed classics like Vienna hotdogs, cheese fries, and slushies. Recently, the menu has gone a little more in depth with its ballpark concept. We dubbed a part of the menu, “The Away Menu”. On the away menu you can find ballpark specials from around the country, such as Houston’s fried chicken in a waffle cone, Yankee stadium’s meatball parm, and Wrigley Field’s Vienna Smokies. The bulk of the menu is scratch made and sure to exceed your expectations of a “concession stand”.

We offer “surprisingly” good selections of sushi rolls and even a Camden Yards softshell crab sandwich dressed with Old Bay mayo and a pickled red onion slaw. We also updated our beer selection. We are keeping it “Chicago” and offer local craft brews from around the city.

Our pro-shop is staffed with friendly and knowledgeable staff. We offer the latest top of the line bats and gloves form vendors like Wilson, Louisville Slugger, De Marini, and Easton. We can accommodate special orders from any of these vendors. We have a selection of demo bats on hand for guests to try and hold Demo days hosted by the actual vendors featuring the whole line of bats in all sizes and selections.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I cannot speak of any of my own childhood memories here. I can only go by what some of my regulars have shared with me. Stella’s is a relic. Cages like this one aren’t being built anymore. A lot of the newer facilities have more of an academy type of feel and are not as welcoming to the neighbor hood kid that rides his bike up and just wants to smash some balls. We are diligent about the upkeep of our cages and serious baseball heads definitely come here to put their work in, but we have that old school feel where a kid would feel right at home. I’ve had many conversations with dads coaching their kids, telling me about when their dad took them here for some bp and a soft serve cone afterwards. Another guy (20 something) was telling me, pointing to the corner by our register, I would throw the hugest fit if my mom didn’t by me cheese fries and a slushy. He actually called his mom right there and told her sorry some 17 years after the fact and they both had a good laugh. Seeing stuff like that is a great feeling. I just wanna keep it going.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3903 Joliet Ave
  Lyons, IL 60534
• Website: www.stellasbattingcages.com
• Phone: 708-447-0405
• Email: info@stellasatbat.com

Image Credit:
Randa Shin