Cobblestone ends its run in Sterling

STERLING – A local eatery closed its doors for the last time Sunday.

The doors were open Monday at Cobblestone Ice Cream & Deli at 603 Freeport Road, but the only people there were representatives from GRS Auction & Appraisal Services.

The Dupo-based auction house was there to do auction previews. The building is not being auctioned, but bids for the equipment in the shop and the colorful Cobblestone box truck are being taken at grsauctions.com.

The auction started Nov. 15 and ends at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Josh Burkhalter and Alison Brantley opened the Sterling shop in 2011. Cobblestone tried to recreate a New York deli experience in the Sauk Valley. It was known for gyros, Italian beef, and big sandwiches with names inspired by the Big Apple, such as The Godfather, The Day Trader and Ellis Island tuna salad.

The Cobblestone also had a full-service ice cream shop with 24 flavors of Cedar Crest hard ice cream, shakes, smoothies, malts, and sundaes.

The owners had run a Cobblestone in Mount Morris prior to moving to Sterling. After setting up shop in Sterling, the couple split, and Burkhalter opened an ice cream shop with 51 flavors in May 2013 in Dixon. It closed shortly after.

At the time of its closing, Brantley was the sole operator of the Sterling shop, which had employed up to 30 people.