Frankfort restaurant may be moving
By Mike Nolan mnolan@southtownstar.com May 7, 2012 4:50PM
Updated: June 9, 2012 8:11AM
The owners of Enrico’s Italian Dining in Frankfort said Monday they have a tentative deal to sell their property to the developer of a proposed grocery store.
If the deal goes through, brothers Harry and Bob D’Ercole would reopen the restaurant elsewhere in the village, according to a news release.
The brothers, who are also partners in 3Ds Development, said that along with the restaurant property, 20127 S. LaGrange Road, the sale also would include the former Town Center Bank property and buildings that house DePaulo Travel and Red Door Realty.
The brothers said they have an agreement to sell the property to Bradford Development, which hopes to break ground later this year on a Mariano’s Fresh Market.
The proposed grocery store project is on the agenda for Thursday’s Frankfort plan commission meeting.
Harry D’Ercole, in a news release, said the family’s restaurant isn’t closing and would, should the sale to Bradford be completed, reopen elsewhere.
“For almost 40 years Enrico’s Italian Dining has been a place where good food and good friends come together,” he said. “My family fully intends for Enrico’s to be that place for many years to come.”
Mariano’s plans a 70,000-square-foot building south of Old Plank Trail Community Bank. The real estate owned by the D’Ercole brothers would be needed for a portion of the grocery store itself as well as parking, according to the news release. Mariano’s is a division of Wisconsin-based grocery retailer Roundy’s.
D’Ercole said the potential sale to Bradford fits well with the family’s long-term plans for the LaGrange Road real estate, saying “our intent always had been to redevelop our land” and reopen Enrico’s elsewhere.
“The building is simply not efficient for us anymore,” he said.
He said he and his brother are considering all options for a new restaurant location, including converting an existing property or building a new restaurant from scratch.
