April 29, 2024
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Denny’s in La Salle reopens under new ownership

Restaurant will remain open 24 hours

By Maribeth M. Wilson
Denny’s in La Salle celebrated its grand re-opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday with residents, restaurant staff, and public officials.

Denny’s in La Salle celebrated its grand reopening Wednesday, March 6, 2024, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with residents, restaurant staff, and public officials in attendance. (Maribeth Wilson)

Denny’s in La Salle celebrated its grand reopening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday attended by residents, restaurant staff and public officials.

The restaurant, 343 Civic Road, transferred ownership in 2023 to Vic Cuda and John C. Metz, co-owners of REMC Restaurants LLC, a 70-plus restaurant group based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The restaurant will remain open for 24 hours.

Cuda said he was excited to purchase a restaurant in La Salle and locations in the Chicago and Indianapolis area.

“Denny’s itself has a good reputation,” he said. “And I think that we will do well here. … Denny’s is a strong brand. We liked the people here and the management, and we decided to acquire it.”

Mayor Jeff Grove said he wants everyone to get a second look at the restaurant because there’s a difference from the last ownership group.

“We are very excited with what we’ve seen so far,” he said, “as far as the menu items, the renewed customer service and the presentation of the restaurant.”

General manager Josh Hayungs of Spring Valley has been the manager for the past three years and said it has been important for the restaurant to be involved in the community, such as sponsoring the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp baseball team and delivering hot pancakes to the Life Flight team.

He said the restaurant randomly chooses a first responder in the Illinois Valley to recognize for the week and provides a free meal.

Every Friday is First Responder Day, where any active volunteer with a police agency, fire department, emergency medical services dispatcher or nurse can receive 20% off their entire bill.

Economic Development Director Curt Bedei said the restaurant is an asset to the community, and he is hopeful for its future success.

“It’s good to see that they are so dedicated to the community – that they saw this was important enough to them that they wanted to rebrand and establish themselves and have new owners come in,” he said.

For information, visit www.facebook.com/DennysLasalleCivicRoad.