About Us
Sign up for our newsletterWelcome to Cuzin’s Neighborhood Bar! We are a friendly neighborhood bar proudly serving Chicago Southside pizza & bar food with a twist. We offer dine-in, delivery, and carryout service. This sports-oriented tavern has a lively atmosphere. We offer a daily menu, including drink specials. Cheers!
Cheers to Family, Friends, Food at Cuzin’s
Cuzin's Neighborhood Bar buzzes with neighborhood stories. Brothers meet for Boilermakers and girlfriends gather over pizzas and pitchers to catch up, to laugh, to reconnect. At Cuzin's, 17704 Oak Park Ave., owner and former Chicago Police Officer, Dennis Suglich aims to bring the Chicago neighborhood corner bar feel to Tinley Park. Through good service and great food, Suglich strives to cultivate Cuzin’s as a place with a reciprocal relationship to the families in the community.
Suglich said he wanted to create a neighborhood tavern where everyone – from regulars to outsiders – felt welcome and at home.
“I grew up in the city around neighborhood bars, where everybody knew everyone,” he said. “That cliché of ‘Cheers’ – the ‘Hey, Norm!’ thing – I wanted that feeling. I wanted a neighborhood place that everyone was comfortable coming into.”
Suglich’s chance to pursue that dream came shortly after his decade-long tenure as a Chicago police officer ended around 2000.
“I was checking out places, and I happened to come in here when it was Les and Lena’s,” he said. “I was talking to the owner, and he said he was thinking about selling the place. I realized that was my opportunity.”
Suglich and his cousin, Bill Broukal, bought the bar in 2002 and rechristened it Cuzin’s.
Although Broukal no longer is a partner (Suglich and his long time friend Ed McGunn bought the bar in 2012. Suglich now runs the family business with his wife, Karen), the bar’s name still brings to mind the friendly, familial atmosphere of a classic neighborhood bar. Suglich’s recent renovations to Cuzin’s – including a new bar area and large windows that open on the east side of the building – also have contributed to a more relaxed, inviting space.
“Everyone serves cold beer, and everyone serves drinks,” Suglich said. “So how do I differentiate myself? I do it with the service – we’re always improving on the service – and with our food, which is always, as much as possible, from scratch and always top-of-the-line quality. We don’t chintz on the food.”
Suglich said that while Cuzin’s is first and foremost a bar – a place to drink beer, watch the game, play some video slots, and play rock music on the jukebox – the food can compete with the best area restaurants.
“Bar food is traditionally deep-fried and kind of processed and prepackaged, but that’s not ours,” he said. “All of our sauces are made from scratch. We use Black Angus beef for our burgers, and we use fresh chicken wings. We keep everything as fresh as possible.”
Making Cuzin’s a place for the people is key to Suglich in defining the bar’s identity.
“My whole plan is to get people to come back,” Suglich said. “As a former Chicago policeman, I’m about people. I love people, and I enjoy putting a smile on people’s faces and really making every person feel like a V.I.P. They come in and I value their business.”
Cuzin’s also offers open mic nights from 4 to 8 p.m. Sundays and hosts live music on Fridays and Saturdays. Carry-out food and booze is available for patrons.
“My business model is simple: I want to serve the best at the most reasonable price,” he said. “I really want that blue-collar, old neighborhood feel.”
Cuzin’s three locations are located at
17704 S. Oak Park Ave., Tinley Park, IL 60477 P-(708)633-1144
3636 W 147th Street, Midlothian, IL 60445 P-(708)389-4444
2825 W 127th Street, Blue Island, IL 60406 P-(708)690-2500
and are open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 2 a.m. Sundays. The kitchen is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.
For more information, call the bar at (708) 633-1144, send an email to info@cuzins.net or visit www.cuzins.net.