Politics & Government

Parking War Erupts Between Greek Feast Restaurant and Nearby Businesses

Business owners in Dunbrook Plaza, the shopping center adjacent to Greek Feast, say restaurant-goers have been taking up their parking spots—and they will tow if necessary.

A spat over parking spots at came to a boil recently, with nearby business owners claiming that the year-old restaurant doesn’t provide enough spots for its customers and that their spots were being taken.

“We have been fighting this parking situation since day one,” said Ed Schubert, owner of the in Dunbrook Plaza, the shopping center next to Greek Feast on Dundee Road.

The situation was spotlighted on Tuesday, when Greek Feast owner George Vlahakis came before the village board to request a permit for outdoor seating. Located at the corner of Dundee and Pfingsten roads, the year-old restaurant has 60 seats inside and 23 parking spots, a ratio that meets current village code requirements. But Vlahakis said he would not add more spots with additional outdoor seating—a proposal that had Schubert and other Dunbrook Plaza business owners irked.

Find out what's happening in Northbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Already, Schubert said, parking in the shopping plaza is a problem, because Greek Feast customers park in Dunbrook Plaza when the restaurant’s spots run out, despite signs saying “No Greek Feast Parking” and the threat of being towed. The main problem, Schubert said, is that there were simply not enough parking spots to begin with. In fact, he said he was offered the property where the restaurant is now located when it originally went for sale but turned the offer down because of the limited parking available. 

Wanting to support both Greek Feast and the businesses in Dunbrook Plaza, trustees had mixed feelings on how to proceed with Vlahakis’ proposal. 

Find out what's happening in Northbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I’m perplexed by what to do with this particular situation,” said Trustee Michael Scolaro. “I’m sympathetic to the shopping center owners, but I also think we should help a successful business become more successful.”

Trustee Todd Heller said he frequently ordered takeout from the restaurant, and that its carryout business did indeed create an additional strain on parking.

“The parking is inadequate with carryout and with the seating there,” he said. “This will get worse in the summer, which I presume is a time when Dairy Queen will get busy.”

Trustee James Karagianis said what particularly struck him about the situation was the level of animosity between business owners as a result of the parking problem—one that, in fact, the village might be to blame for. Greek Feast did not have to go before the village board for review initially, he noted, because it met village code requirements, including ones regulating the number of parking spots a restaurant should provide.

“It points to the inadequacy of our code,” Karagianis said. “What troubles me is, we have a history of granting outdoor seating without consideration to parking.” 

President Frum said she, too, agreed that the village’s zoning code could stand to be revised.

Not only outdoor seating but potential carryout business should be considered in any new village parking code, said Steve Geffen, who came to the meeting to represent the Dunbrook Plaza restaurant . 

“It just makes it more of a mess and I think you need to take that into account,” he commented.

Trustee Katharine Ciesla moved to continue discussion of the issue to the board’s next committee of the whole meeting, May 17.

“Maybe the village can sit down with the businesses and facilitate something,” she said. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here