Sapporo Closes in Mokena

Sapporo closed over the Labor Day weekend in Mokena.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

The restaurant scene in Mokena has changed quite a bit in recent weeks.

The biggest change was the abrupt closing of Sapporo Japanese restaurant, 19031 Old LaGrange Road, when the owner just walked away from the restaurant over the Labor Day weekend.

“She pulled a midnight move,” said Jim Burke, who owns the plaza where Sapporo was located. “They took everything out including hibachi grills and kitchen fixtures that were permanently affixed.”

Well, not quite everything.

“We did find rotten food in one of the freezers,” said Burke. “The maintenance guy had to wear a respirator when he cleaned up the mess, it was that bad.”

“We knew things were bad because they were so far behind in their rent,” said Burke. “We had heard they were going to leave on July 12 but we stopped them. Then we weren’t watching so closely over Labor Day and they snuck out in the middle of the night.”

“We had offered the owner the chance to just walk away and we would try to find a new operator for the restaurant, but she said she could turn things around.”

Burke said the same thing happened at a Sapporo restaurant she owned in Plainfield, which has also closed.

Burke said he has retained a law firm and plans to file a lawsuit.

Efforts to reach Sapporo Inc., of Plainfield, for comment were unsuccessful as all phone numbers for the restaurants have been disconnected and two addresses listed for the owner in Mokena have been foreclosed upon in the past year.

Another restaurant to bite the dust was the Mokena Family Restaurant, 11133 W. 191st St., which also closed abruptly a few weeks ago. This one sounds like a dispute with the landlord as there are notices on the windows that the locks have been rekeyed.

On a brighter note, Jenny’s Steakhouse, which had been operating in downtown Frankfort, moved a couple of weeks ago into the restaurant space at 191 South, 10160 W. 191st St. Jenny’s displaced Joe’s Italian Villa, but Italian Villa pizzas are still available. Jenny’s is open for lunch and dinner.

For information and hours, call 708-479-6873 or visit http://jennyssteakhouse.com/.