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BURR RIDGE – The light may have gone out on Moondance Diner, but that dwindled radiance has now been replaced with a rising sun.
Patti Manderscheid and her family had been going to the Moondance Diner in Burr Ridge for as long as they could remember, enjoying the breakfast and lunch options while getting to know the whole staff.
"We joked the other day about being a restaurant family," Mandersheid said.
Like several residents in town, the news of Moondance closing in mid-March sent a shock wave to its regular customers and casual diners alike. That's when Mandersheid's family stepped into the restaurant business.
After countless hours of work, Patti's Sunrise Cafe, a restaurant with menu options comparable to Moondance, was ready to go and open for business May 9. The restaurant may have received a face lift with bright wallpaper, reupholstered booths, added menu options and new signs, but everyone from the Moondance staff is back, from the bus boys to the chefs.
"That is what made us want to do this, because they were able to come here and just pick up where they left off," she said.
Patti's Sunrise Cafe is truly a family project, as all four members contributed to its opening. Manderscheid's husband, John, owns a company in Willowbrook and will hadle business operations along with her son, Matt Malusa, who will oversee finances. Additonally, her daughter, Lauren Malusa, is a graphic artist who designed the menu and signage.
Matt Malusa, who is also a partner in the venture, said that living in Burr Ridge for a decade has tied the family into the community fabric, and they felt it was time to make a lasting impact in Burr Ridge.
"It was just right place at the right time," Malusa said. "If you asked us a year ago if we were going into the restaurant business we would've said 'no.'"
"We want to make sure this place keeps going on."
Malusa said there's also been several Moondance regulars who come by the new restaurant.
"Even after being six, seven weeks closed, they still come by every day and ask 'When are you guys going to be open?'" he said. "We had maybe five or six regular customers come in and just say, 'We're just happy that you're opening, we'll be here [May 9].'"
Malusa said the family wanted the design to be modern, bright and fresh. He said the new breakfast and lunch restaurant is "everything that everybody loved before," but with a "new twist."
The May 9 opening only came after hours of painting, installing the signs, reupholstering the booths, acquiring new appliances and dishes, redoing the bathrooms and the hostess area and changing the countertops.
Still, the family was thankful that they didn't have to do any heavy duty construction, such as knocking down walls or redoing plumbing.
"People have told us that putting this together in one month is unheard of and I think it really is a testament of everyone in this area that has helped us," Manderscheid said.
Now open, Manderscheid said its been "very busy" as word of mouth is spreading quickly on the new breakfast restaurant.
"Each day I'm just surprised by all the traffic and it's nice to see a lot of returning customers and familiar faces from the neighborhood," she said.
So far, all the customers the reviews have been positive and customers delighted to be greeted by the same staff by a the staff, according to Manderscheid.
"I haven't heard a negative thing yet," she said. "It's overwhelming."
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Know more:
Patti's Sunrise Cafe
Where: 78 Burr Ridge Parkway, Burr Ridge
Phone: 630-455-5504
Website: http://pattissunrisecafe.com/
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/pattissunrisecafe