Kyriaki A Greek Eatery Closes Without Warning

Barrington restaurant Kyriaki A Greek Eatery abruptly shut its doors in November, 2012.

The restaurant, formerly located at 301 W. Northwest Highway had been open since March of 2011. Owned by Louis and Georgia Giannakopoulos, Kyriaki served up authentic Greek cuisine.

Its website mentions nothing of the closure. Some employees say they weren’t even given advanced notice.

“I left to visit my brother on November 5,” Restaurant Manger William Carver said. “The restaurant was still in business. When I came back on November 11, the restaurant was gone, they didn’t tell me anything about it.”

Carver said the closure was a shock to him. He knew Giannakopoulos was having some financial problems because he wasn’t getting paid, but Carver said he was lenient about it because he knew they needed the help.

“I was there seven days a week. I went back to work, the doors were locked, the signs were down, everything was gone,” Carver said. He said Giannakopoulos’ phone had since been turned off. The business is listed for lease on Craigslist.

A Lake County Health Department officer said the restaurant had several issues during inspections, but the department did not shut the restaurant down.

Kyriaki’s first problematic inspection occurred on June 27. The Lake County Health Department’s website cites the reason for failure as “Lack of proper certified manager(s).” Some other issues noted by the inspector included food being stored on the floor of the walk-in cooler instead of at least 6 inches above the floor, and a used ashtray was found in the kitchen.

Kyriaki failed its follow-up inspection on October 24 due to repeated time/temperature violations. The restaurant failed the next follow-up inspection for the same reasons on November 6.

Attempts to reach Louis Giannakopoulos were unsuccessful.