Our Story

Derek Molis and Jennifer Molis-Bozzi, owners of CaraWay’s Bar & Grill, can lovingly explain where the name “CaraWay’s” comes from.

On May 2, 1990, their late mother passed away from a hard fought battle with cancer. On March 24th, 2002, their late father passed away while in Jamaica attending Derek’s wedding. Derek and Jennifer also have another older sibling, Brian Molis. Together, after their parents’ passings, they all agreed on one thing: When it came time to one day begin families of their own, no first names from Mom or Dad could be used for first names of grandchildren, but middle names could be.

As it turned out, Brian was first to begin his family, and now has 3 children: Samantha, Sydney & Brendan. Jennifer was second, and she also has 3 children: Cole, Parker & Breckin. Derek was last, and has one daughter: Cammie. As it turned out, several of the grandchildren’s middle names were chosen to honor their late Mother and Father.

Fast forward to 2021, when Derek called Jennifer and asked her one question, “Are you ready to go?” Jenn said yes, knowing Derek was talking about opening a bar, a topic they often discussed. It was time to follow in their fathers’ footsteps who had previously owned two taverns on Chicago’s Southside in Garfield Ridge named “Big Moe’s.” So the search was on and a location was secured. However, for months, they couldn’t find a name for the bar that made either of them happy.

December of 2021, Derek woke up to a ringing phone call from Jennifer at about 2am in the morning. Jennifer was so excited saying to Derek, “I got it! I got the name for the bar! It’s CaraWay’s.” Derek told her “Jenn, don’t pick this name because it’s personal to me. We will find a name. Don’t worry.” Jennifer kept on, “No! It has to be CaraWay’s. It ties everything in, Mom & Dad, and it will be good Karma if we name the bar CaraWay’s. Mom & Dad will be watching over us.”

So CaraWay's it was, and is about to be. But why CaraWay's? Where does this name actually come from? When Derek's daughter Cammie was born, he struggled with what her middle name would be, not knowing at that time if he would have any other children. So he made up her middle name, CaraWay, to honor both his Mother and Father, and to encapsulate the loving memory of both his parents, "Carol & Wayne," inside of one name: CaraWay.