Southern Illinois restaurant will reopen after initially closing in December

A Carbondale restaurant’s announcement in December that the “last of the gyro cones are going up. When we’re out we are closing the doors for good,” may have been premature.

El Greco did close Dec. 17, but a new owner has plans to reopen it within weeks. The restaurant on The Strip first opened in 1973, according to The Southern Illinoisan.

But the restaurant is being revived by a longtime fan, Steve Rogers, who says it could be open March 1. He plans to add beer and wine sales, and told the Illinoisan that “nothing is going to change, other than some pictures on the wall.”

“There are some places in Carbondale that should not close, and this is one of them,” he said. “It just keeps the flavor of the town.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2018 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Southern Illinois restaurant will reopen after initially closing in December."