A new restaurant is opening its doors Thursday at Orchard Valley Golf Course in Aurora, giving the community its first real look at the payoff from a nearly two-year, $8.8 million overhaul of the 31-year-old municipal course. The Orchard Social will serve dinner and drinks from a space with floor-to-ceiling glass walls facing the 18th hole, expanded patio seating with a fireplace, and a menu centered on smash burgers, comfort food, and elevated dinner options.
The restaurant's debut, first reported by Shaw Local, comes as the Fox Valley Park District wraps up an infrastructure project that shut the entire course down in November 2024. Rather than spread renovations over several golf seasons, the district opted to close Orchard Valley completely for the 2025 season so crews could complete the work in a single continuous phase, according to Enjoy Aurora. The Fox Valley Park District Board of Commissioners approved the $8.8 million renovation in September 2024, funded through bond proceeds and the district's existing capital development fund, per the same outlet.
A Familiar Builder Returns to Rebuild the Course
The construction contract, worth $8.3 million, went to Plainfield-based Wadsworth Golf Construction Company, which also happened to be the original builder of Orchard Valley back in 1993, as the Aurora Beacon-News has reported. Wadsworth was the sole bidder for the job. The physical redesign was overseen by architect Greg Martin of Martin Design Partnership, whose scope included rebuilding every bunker with a new aeration drainage system, replacing cart paths, rebuilding six bridges and installing new irrigation across the property.
Those upgrades sit on a course originally designed by architect Ken Kavanaugh in 1993 that once hosted the Illinois Open Championship in both 1996 and 1998 and was ranked the #6 public golf course in Illinois by Golf Magazine in 2016, according to the Chicago Golf Report. The 18-hole, par-72 layout winds around Blackberry Creek and a central lake, with water hazards touching seven holes — scenery now visible through The Orchard Social's glass curtain walls, per GolfScout.
Temporary Hours Until the Fairways Reopen
For now, The Orchard Social is running on a limited schedule while the golf course itself remains closed to play. The restaurant is open for dinner service Wednesday through Saturday and an extended lunch on Sunday, with the kitchen serving 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The bar stays open a bit later, running 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, and the restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday.
Those hours are expected to expand once Orchard Valley Golf Course itself reopens on September 5, giving the restaurant a longer runway before it operates on a full, year-round schedule. No reservations are required for bar seating, and walk-ins are welcome as availability allows, though dinner reservations can be booked through orchardvalleygolf.com or by calling 630-907-0500.
Inside a 194-Seat Space Built for Sports and Socializing
The Orchard Social seats 194 guests across multiple indoor and outdoor dining areas, including private event spaces and an expanded patio anchored by a fireplace and see-through fireplace features. Inside, the design leans into a darker, earth-toned palette meant to echo the natural surroundings outside, paired with an integrated sound system and 17 televisions scattered throughout the space. The bar pours a full-service lineup of signature cocktails, classic drinks and rotating microbrews.
Leading the kitchen is Executive Chef Gail Huesmann, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate and former culinary instructor who has helped open 11 restaurants during her career. Huesmann previously won Food Network's Supermarket Stakeout and competed on Cutthroat Kitchen and Final Table New Orleans, according to Orchard Valley Golf Course's own site. She described the new concept as “upscale casual with a sport element,” and said the refreshed menu — smash burgers, comfort food favorites and elevated dinner selections — is designed to “appeal to as many people as possible.”
Part of a Bigger Bet on Year-Round Traffic
The restaurant's opening is the first visible piece of a broader strategy to turn Orchard Valley into more than a golf-only destination. Jen Paprocki said the property should feel welcoming to everybody, not just golfers, according to Shaw Local's report. That framing tracks with the numbers behind the project: Orchard Valley logged a combined 80,000 rounds of golf in 2023 and 2024 alone, the two seasons before the shutdown, per Enjoy Aurora — a volume of community traffic the district is clearly hoping to convert into restaurant customers as well.
The push toward a more family- and community-oriented destination isn't new. In January 2023, the park district signed a five-year management agreement with Troon Golf to run day-to-day golf operations while the district retains ownership and collects course revenues, Club + Resort Business reported. That same year, the district also launched the Fox Valley Golf Academy to offer instruction, camps and leagues for players ages 6 to 14, laying groundwork for the kind of broader community draw The Orchard Social now represents on the dining side.
