More than just coffee and eggs: Gus' Diner closes after 14 years in Rolling Meadows

Whether they went for the banana bread French toast, classic 1950s decor, or friendly conversation among friends and strangers alike, patrons of Gus' Diner learned the Rolling Meadows restaurant served its last meal this week.

Despite making it through the worst of the pandemic, Owner Gus Diones decided to close down his breakfast and lunch spot at 2160 Plum Grove Road Tuesday, saying the business never fully recovered to where it was before 2020.

"The numbers just don't lie, and unfortunately it wasn't a viable business to keep going," Diones told the Daily Herald Wednesday. "It just really never got back to where it needed to be. Rising food costs, inflation across the board for all of us. Struggling to make payroll. Taxes. Just all the normal bills that go along with it."

"I've been able to pay everything at the end of day, and at the end of the month, there's just nothing left," he said.

Diones, who opened the restaurant in the Plum Grove Center strip mall 14 years ago, says he'd been contemplating shutting down for about a year. He wanted the final day to be this upcoming Sunday, and announce it ahead of time to his longtime customers. He said his servers were on board, but the cooks weren't, leading to the abrupt closure Tuesday and a subsequent Facebook post announcing the news.

But Diones said he plans to hang out at the restaurant until the end of the month to greet customers and explain in person why he closed.

"I was really blessed," he said. "There's a breakfast place on every corner. They weren't coming in for the food, per se. Really, honestly, the relationships that we've built with people over the years. The customers that become friends that become part of your family. It's more than just serving coffee and eggs. We could be therapists on one day. There's so much involved, more than just the food."

Diones has spent 27 years in the hospitality industry, after growing up and helping out at his dad's restaurant, Skewer, at Woodfield Mall in the 1980s. After rents at the mall got too high and his dad and uncle bought Plaza Lane restaurant in Rolling Meadows, Diones worked there and eventually took over the business, before opening up Gus' Diner in 2008.

For now, Diones said he's taking a pause, but he hasn't ruled out a comeback in some fashion. He's already had other restaurateurs contact him in hopes of bringing him on their staff.

"This is all I've done my entire life," he said.