Downers Grove's re-opened Omega Restaurant getting back to basics

DOWNERS GROVE — After almost eight months away, the owners of Omega Restaurant are hoping the old adage is true — the more things change, the more they stay the same.

As the renovated Downers Grove restaurant reopens this week with a new dining room, new kitchen equipment and new managers, co-owner Nick Christopoulos says he hopes loyal customers will return to find the restaurant back to normal.

Since Monday, customers have been dining at the Omega Restaurant and Bakery, 1300 Ogden Ave., for the first time since last July, when the restaurant closed down amid unpaid bills and reports of mismanagement.

The circumstances were not ideal, Christopoulos said, but the owners nevertheless used the opportunity to renovate and improve.

"We figured you have to close, it's time to freshen up," Christopoulos said.

The changes are apparent from the first step into the restaurant. The layout is the same, but the restaurant's tables and paneling is now a cherry wood that is sturdier and richer than the light-colored wood in place before. Green and burgundy in the carpeting, booths and chairs complement the color scheme. The wooden lunch countertop has been replaced with granite.

In the back of the house, the kitchen features all new equipment, from the oven all the way down to the spatulas, Christopoulos said.

"The best thing is all these guys are going to start with everything brand new," he said.

Not only does it mean reopening with a clean kitchen, but the equipment is more energy-efficient, Christopoulos said.

"They say it will use less electricity, less gas," Christopoulos said, adding quickly with a laugh, "hopefully. Only time will tell.

"But we decided to do an upgrade because we hope it's going to keep costs down for customers."

In fact, Christopoulos acknowledged, utility costs were the most direct cause of the restaurant's shuttering last year.

Behind-the-scenes issues in the business became public in early May, when Commonwealth Edison shut off power in the middle of a midweek lunch rush over an unpaid $50,000 bill. The restaurant's then-operator, Jim Stavropoulos, disputed the bill, and he reopened the restaurant on generator power — only to be cited four days later by the village for running a generator improperly and without a permit.

The ordeal continued for the next two months until the business unravelled under further bills, utility shutoffs and reports of mismanagement.

The restaurant closed permanently on July 18. By then, Stavropoulos was also facing $20,000 in water bills from the village and the Downers Grove Sanitary District, and the property owner, George Andrews, was suing in court claiming that Stavropoulos was five months behind on rent.

Andrews, who also owns the Omega in Schaumburg, reclaimed the business. He brought in his son, Telly Andrianopoulos, and Christopoulos to restore the Downers Grove business.

Not only is there a family connection — Christopoulos is Andrianopoulos' brother-in-law — but for the past 10 years, Christopoulos and his father have run Morningside Cafe on Ogden Avenue near Yackley Avenue, about four miles down the road from Omega in Lisle.

The seven-month closure was long, but it was necessary to be thorough, Christopoulos said.

"The place was just about left in disarray, basically," he said.

In addition to the interior renovation, the restaurant had to be brought up to code. The last piece to fall into place was the green-light from the health department last month.

"Right away we started calling vendors," Christopoulos said.

On Friday, kitchen crews were busy prepping the food for Monday's re-opening. The restaurant brought back more than half of its old staff, Christopoulos said, including the former chef and most of the cooks.

"(The restaurant's troubles) are in the past, that's the way we want to look it at," he said. "The customers that have been calling, they've been really patient. No one wants this place to be open more than us."

In fact, amid Friday's pre-opening activities, Bill Scanlon and his wife pulled into the restaurant parking lot, hoping that the restaurant was back up and running.

For the past 10 years, the retirees have been driving over from Riverside for breakfast and lunch at the restaurant — and they were glad to hear the same chef would be returning.

"We'll be back for sure," Scanlon said.