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Just months after being annexed into Tinley Park, Dendrino’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge closed New Year’s Eve, citing high costs to comply with village code requirements.
The business opened in 1969 at the southeast corner of 183rd Street and Oak Park Avenue and was annexed into Tinley Park at the end of last June.
In an email to village officials Monday, the Dendrinos family said it would not be seeking renewal of liquor and video gambling licenses and had ceased operation just before the stroke of midnight New Year’s Eve.
“Following the lack of options and heavy cost burden presented by the Village at our meeting earlier this month, we had no other choice but to close our establishment after 54 years of serving the Tinley Park community,” the family said in the email.
The Tinley Park Village Board approved the annexation last May and it became effective June 30.
The property had been in unincorporated Cook County but surrounded by Tinley Park on all four sides. Tinley Park had long eyed annexing the property, and the annexation was voluntary on the part of the Dendrinos family, according to Pat Carr, village manager.
The Dendrinos had to meet village codes and make connections to village water and sewer service, and installing a fire alarm and sprinkler system in the building, according to the manager.
He said village officials previously met with the Dendrinos to lay out the code and safety requirements.
“They were aware of these requirements 18 months ago when we initially met with them,” Carr said Wednesday. “They would eventually have to come up to code which they would have been given time to complete. The biggest requirement is the fire alarm and sprinkler code which they were not compliant but still able to operate.”
Carr said there had been several requests to sell the property to another owner who planned to continue to operate it as a bar.
The property was brought in under a residential zoning and would have needed a zoning change or variance to continue to operate as a bar if the ownership changed, Carr said.
Tina Dendrinos, whose parents own the business, said the annexation was an involuntary one, and that the costs to comply with the village requirements would be significant.
“Also, our hours would be reduced, and, financially, it didn’t make sense” to continue operating, she said Wednesday.
Open until 4 a.m. under the Cook County liquor license, it was a popular spot for those still in need of drink after other watering holes had closed for the night.
Daily Southtown
Dendrino’s would have had to close at 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays under village ordinances, Tina Dendrinos said.
She said her parents have been actively looking for a buyer for the property since April.
Former owner Gerasimus “Jerry” Dendrinos was known to greet customers as they entered, and in the 1970s and 1980s the restaurant had a full menu featuring popular items such as pork chops and steaks, according to a November 2015 Chicago Tribune obituary of Dendrinos.
He was uncle to Tina Dendrinos and her brother, Sam, who represented their parents in discussions with the village.
Dendrino’s drew workers from the now-shuttered Panduit plant, just to the east at 183rd and Ridgeland Avenue, for lunchtime breaks, according to the obituary.
“We’ve had a very safe establishment over the years,” she said. “We’re very open to interested buyers.”
mnolan@tribpub.com