Pleasant Prairie Restaurant Guide

At an early age, my father Ray was intrigued by the restaurant business. He started as a busboy in Waukegan, Illinois and later graduated to waiter status. This position gave him valuable insight into customer expectation for both the quality of food and service. His learning curve accelerated during "the roaring 20s" when he worked for some of the finest chefs and restaurateurs in Lake County, Illinois.

By 1933, with nothing to lose and a tremendous vision, my father started this business in a four-room cottage that is still in existence one-half mile south of this location. One year later, he married my mother, Wilma, and they worked side by side during the "good old days" when all the complications of bookkeeping were contained in a simple black book kept securely in Dad's shirt pocket. Prohibition found my parents mixing their own gin - the ingredients being alcohol and juniper essence.

Known internationally and admired by over five generations of diners, Ray Radigan's has become a tremendous source of pride for our family as well as our personnel. Throughout the years, there has been only a one-word philosophy for our business - quality! This cornerstone has allowed us to exist these seventy years and is as much a reality as it is a philosophy. More simply, it is our way of doing business.

Although society has changed and as new generations of clientele continue to discover Ray Radigan's, the cornerstone of quality that has brought us this far will not change. We simply exist for the pleasure of our guests.

On behalf of my parents, my wife Ann, our daughters Mary and Katie and our staff, both present and past, I wish to say thank you and God bless!

Michael