Community mourns owners of Arlington Heights' Uptown Cafe who died days apart

For more than three decades, Georgios and Georgene Avgeris dished out tasty and filling fare at the Uptown Cafe in Arlington Heights, serving everything from eggs and bacon to waffles, pancakes and crepes.

But they also seasoned it with plenty of love for their loyal customers.

And that is why it came as such a shock when an announcement was placed on the front of the restaurant announcing the deaths, within days of each other, of the longtime owners of the popular restaurant at 24 E. Miner St.

Georgios, 64, and Georgene, 63, of Elk Grove Village, owned Uptown Cafe for 33 years, working side by side with Georgene's father, Dino Kavathas, and brother Dimitri Kavathas.

Georgios died Friday after a long battle with ALS.

“We knew it was time. And it was better because he was in a lot of pain,” Dimitri Kavathas said.

Georgene died on Monday night.

“She had heart valve problems and a little bit of kidney problems,” Dimitri said.

Dimitri Kavathas said some customers and family thought the two wanted to be together.

“Romeo and Juliet is what they called it,” he said.

The restaurant was closed Wednesday, the umbrellas over the patio tables furled and a bouquet placed within the handle of the front door.

That day, a funeral service was held at Saint Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church in Palatine.

The service was heavily attended by people from the community.

“The line just to step up and pay respects went all the way around the church and out the door,” said a regular customer, Todd Mika, who works down the street at Berkshire Hathaway Starck Real Estate.

“The whole community here in Arlington Heights is just in shock,” Mika said. “We just want to support the family and support the restaurant.”

The food was home cooking, he said, but there was something that went beyond it.

“You can't put hospitality on the menu, right?”

The couple were married for more than 40 years. Dimitri Kavathas said Georgios Avgeris was from Greece and came here when he was very young.

“They met at work at a restaurant (in the Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates area) when they were teenagers,” he said. “They clicked.”

The couple, who were married in Greece, had two children and seven grandchildren.

Dimitri Kavathas said his father, Dino, who used to have a pizza place in Arlington Heights called the Pit and Pub, bought the Uptown Cafe, which was originally named Granny's. Around 15 years later, the name was changed.

Sue Bolash Kowols of Arlington Heights said she has been going to the restaurant since she was a child, when her family would have breakfast there after church.

Later, she said, she held her bridal shower there.

“I think anybody who would go to that restaurant, you felt like you were family,” she said.

Marilyn Hermann of Arlington Heights, said it felt like home.

“They recognized you when you came in,” she said. “They would often just know automatically what we were going to have.”

Another patron, Edward Tischler of Arlington Heights, called the couple down-to-earth. “You felt like you were in your mom's dining room,” he said.

Dimitri Kavathas said the family, including Dimitri's father, will continue to run the restaurant.

“We still plan on staying for a while, because my dad, even at 89, he goes, 'What am I going to do?' He wants to be there, and right now, I do, too.”