History. Family. Community.
Now A New Era.
In June of 1976 Mike & Ruth Palmer purchased The Spot to Eat Restaurant in downtown LaGrange. The Spot to Eat was a small deli restaurant that had been in LaGrange since at least the early 1940’s. “The Spot” was open 6 days a week for lunch and just 2 nights a week for dinner (until 8pm). LaGrange was a very different then… there were only about 5 restaurants in LaGrange, there was no liquor service in LaGrange (no liquor service in many of the other Villages along the BNSF corridor as well) and the La Grange Theater had just one screen.
In 1983 The Spot to Eat was closed and the Palmer family built Palmer Place Restaurant & Biergarten as a casual family friendly restaurant. The gravel parking lot behind the restaurant was also bricked over to add the large outdoor patio. At the same time LaGrange had a new liquor ordinance. Palmer Place had several wines by the glass, 2 draft beers & 40 beers by the bottle.
In 1986 Palmer Place expanded into the retail space directly to the south and our fireplace room was built. The new fireplace room created some much needed winter seating and gave customers a cozy warm place for dining.
In 1990 another addition was added with the back dining room. The new space created additional indoor seating for 85 people, a new bar and the popular rooftop deck.
Over the years there have been a lot of changes. From only two draft beers to one of the largest draft beer selections in the area along with an extensive assortment of bottled beers, ciders and seltzers. Some things however, don’t change. We are proud to continue to host Shamrockfest for its 39th year.
In early 2022, Dave and Leslie Tarman purchased Palmer Place with the goal of building on the traditions and success of the Palmer family. With a long history of restaurant ownership in the Tarman family, they look forward to bringing a fresh perspective to this already successful business and becoming part of the La Grange community.