Sweet Basil Cafe in Hanover Park abruptly closes, leaving chain’s last location in Skokie

Sweet Basil Cafe opened its seventh Illinois location in Hanover Park 15 months ago, but with its recent abrupt closure only the Skokie site remains.

Dimitri Karonis, manager of the once larger family-owned chain, said reducing locations was necessary due to multiple factors including individual site issues and his wife’s health problems.

In the case of the Hanover Park restaurant at 7600 Barrington Road in the Westview Center, he said it was the new landlord’s demand for $5,000 more in rent per month.

“It came as a shock to us,” Karonis said. “They said to us, if you want to leave you can just leave.”

When Karonis opened the Hanover Park site, he said he was dealing with a different landlord who was intending to sell the property soon. The initial lease was $13,000 monthly and made Karonis responsible for paying property taxes as well as covering costs related to common area maintenance.

Karonis said the new landlord recently increased rent to $18,000 a month and told Karonis he owed the difference dating back to the beginning of the year when the property was sold.

Attempts to reach the building’s owner were unsuccessful.

Village officials offered a different explanation at last week’s village board meeting when Trustee Herb Porter asked whether more support could have been provided for the site where two restaurants have now closed in recent years.

“I worked personally with them,” Mayor Rod Craig said. “The trend is the (restaurant) ownership.”

Village Manager Juliana Maller added that village staff provided as much help to the new business as possible.

“I think staff went above and beyond trying to hold their hand, as well as I know the mayor tried to have several discussions with them,” she said. “My sense is that it’s not the location, and according to the (building) owners they have two other restaurants that they’re reviewing right now to go in there.”

When the Hanover Park location opened in April 2024, the chain’s existing restaurants were in Algonquin, Skokie, Rockford, Peoria, Champaign and Springfield.

Karonis said the 6-year-old Skokie restaurant remains open even though the eatery’s phone line was disconnected Monday. Karonis said it was a rewiring issue.

Skokie Chamber of Commerce & Industry Administrator Joy Schaefer was unaware of the restaurant’s current status. She praised its quality, saying the chamber only stopped using it as a meeting site because the organization had outgrown the available space.