Longtime Palatine eatery serving last meal

After 22 years in business, Alemar's restaurant in Palatine will close today, the latest casualty of tough economic times.

"We're reluctantly closing our doors," said owner Marilyn Alevras. "People just can't afford to eat out, and we can't afford to keep paying bills from our own pockets."

The diner-style eatery at Dundee and Quentin roads was a popular gathering spot for Sunday morning churchgoers and anyone else craving breakfast food - and maybe a cocktail - at dinnertime.

Alevras, of Mundelein, said she tried to stave off the inevitable, remodeling and updating the menu last year. But the last-ditch effort proved futile.

"It's like that saying, 'You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,'" she said.

Alemar's employed 25 servers, four line cooks, four busboys and a chef, most of whom have yet to find a new job. Alevras said she's proud of the number of families the restaurant helped support.

"They're what kept the doors open as long as they were," she said. "What are these people going to do?"

Alevras said she signed a contract to sell the corner property to a developer, but that the deal fell apart when the prospective owners decided against expanding their business. She wasn't privy to who the potential buyer was, but got the impression it wasn't a restaurant.

She fought back tears as Tuesday's lunch crowd began to filter out, many of them patrons since Alevras' late husband Tony and brother-in-law Nick opened Alemar's in 1986.

"I know most everybody who comes through this door by name," she said, recalling countless baptism luncheons and wedding rehearsals.

Alevras' son Peter was supposed to be next at the helm.

"I have to stay positive," she said. "We will find something down the road, and the people of Palatine will hear from us once again."