Cozy Corner, a longstanding family-operated breakfast eatery in Oak Park, closed its doors permanently Sunday – having withstood a financially-crippling global pandemic but unable to sustain after facing a rent increase of more than double what the owners had been paying.
The closure ended nearly 65 years the restaurant had been in business at 138 N. Marion St., in the west suburb’s downtown area.
Cozy Corner offered morning fare and coffee as a breakfast joint on the corner of North Marion and Lake Street since its doors opened in 1959.
Current owners Georgia Dravilas and Peter Gerousis took over the restaurant from Dravilas’s father in 2019 after a series of bad business deals made by a longtime business partner, she told Pioneer Press.
The couple worked to bring Cozy Corner out of debt and back to life.
“It took effort to turn things around. Just when we thought we had our footing the pandemic hit and forced us to close in-person service,” Georgia said.
But Cozy Corner began doing take-out to keep things afloat.
“It was the two of us [Dravilas and Gerousis] plus our cook and a couple of other staff members for nearly two years. It was hard, but our community supported us through it,” said Gerousis.
But the breaking point came last November when the owners of the building the restaurant operates out of told the restaurateurs the rent would increase by 2.5 times come the end of their 30-year lease; which was this July.
The restaurant owners had been paying $8,500 a month for the space, they said. With the planned increase, the new rent amount would be about $20,000 per month if the couple decided to keep operating out of the space.
“Property taxes have increased. But not to this degree,” said Gerousis. “We were already paying more per square foot than all of the restaurants on this block, in some cases four times as much.”
The property owners could not be reached for comment.
However, Cook County tax records show that the taxes on the property ballooned to $67,233 for 2023 – payable in 2024 – versus the $45,298 billed in 2022 that was due last calendar year. For 2021, the records show, the property’s tax was $49,206.
Dravilas and Gerousis looked into finding a new location to move to, but after a few potential locations and deals fell through they were “out of time.” After weeks of contemplation, the owners said they announced the closure to their staff first. Then to the community.
“Georgia and Peter took a chance on me, and they helped teach me how to be successful in the restaurant business,” said Ciro Parlato, a former Cozy Corner employee who is now owner of Ciro Italian Regional Cuisine, located just down the street. “They taught me about hospitality and to be thankful for the customers and community around us. It is sad to see such a wonderful place and community center like Cozy go.”
A customer who identified himself only as Steve said he and three other old time friends had been going to Cozy Corner for decades to have breakfast and talk about life. He said his favorite was the crêpes with a side of fruit or bacon – on occasion.
“The food is always good. The service has stayed steady over the years. Recently however, more and more families seem to be stopping in for a late breakfast on the weekends. It has been nice to see and it will be sad for it to come to an end,” he said.
Jarred Watkins is a freelancer.
