Rockford Sweet Basil Cafe, others to stay open despite Springfield closure

Despite last month's sudden closing of Sweet Basil Cafe in Springfield, Illinois, the Rockford restaurant of the same name and ownership remains open.

Rockford's Sweet Basil Cafe is open for business and keeping regular hours, according to an employee who answered the phone Wednesday at the Perryville Road location.

The small Illinois chain operates five other restaurants besides the one in Springfield — Rockford, Peoria, Skokie Hanover Park and Champaign. The Peoria location has been closed for repairs since July.

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What Sweet Basil Cafe location closed?

On Aug. 23, the Sweet Basil Cafe in Springfield unexpectedly closed. It opened in November 2020.

Why did the Springfield Sweet Basil Cafe close?

Records show the Springfield location was served a commercial eviction notice last November . The trial for the eviction on Aug. 13 resulted in orders to vacate after business owners for The Sweet Basil Group LLC failed to appear in court.

Jim and Denise Karonis are listed on the Illinois Secretary of State website as managers of The Sweet Basil Group headquartered in Peoria.

In a second court appearance on Aug. 21 for the unpaid rent totaling $114,000, the Karonises also did not appear. Scarlet Oak LLC, the building owner, was awarded $116,000.

The Sweet Basil Cafe website still lists the Springfield location.

More: Owner of recently closed Springfield cafe has history of insurance fraud

Will other Illinois locations close?

As of now, most locations under The Sweet Basil Group appear to be keeping their doors open.

The employee who answered the phone at the Sweet Basil Cafe location in Rockford said there has been no contact with the Karonis family about the Springfield closure. The Rockford restaurant opened in June 2021.

Employees at the Champaign and Hanover Park locations both confirmed their restaurants have had no change in operations.

Calls to the Skokie restaurant as well as Peoria, where the company is headquartered, were not returned.

What happened at the Peoria location?

The restaurant posted on social media July 18 that it would be closed after a vehicle drove into the building. The post stated that the restaurant was remodeling the space and did not indicate when it planned to reopen.

According to the Peoria Police Department, a commercial truck collided with an SUV outside the restaurant and the truck went over an embankment and struck the restaurant. There were no injuries.

Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The Rockford Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@gannett.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rockford Sweet Basil Cafe, others to stay open despite Springfield closure