Cavallini’s in the Park, which has been ensconced in a Tinley Park train station for some 20 years, says it will close in a week, but the village manager contends owners had ample opportunities to continue serving commuters.
In an Aug. 28 Facebook post, Cavallini’s owner Norman Elftmann III said the Sept. 15 closing came after the village decided not to renew the restaurant’s lease at the Oak Park Avenue Metra station.
Elftmann said he was presented with new lease terms he couldn’t swallow, including a big increase in his insurance coverage and a requirement that he hire private security.
“It would have doubled my costs,” he said Thursday. “I wanted to close in peace.”
A lease agreement between Cavallini’s and the village expired in March, and Elftmann could have contacted the village about renewing the deal, Village Manager Pat Carr said Thursday.
“He had the opportunity to say he wanted to stay and he didn’t,” Carr said.
Carr said that when the village didn’t hear from Elftmann, it reached out to him and advised him Tinley Park would advertise for a replacement operator, and that Cavallini’s could negotiate new terms.
The request went out in April and Carr said there is one business “we are likely to go with” that would come up for a vote at a Village Board meeting.
“Hopefully this new vendor will be up and running sometime in October,” Carr said.
Cavallini’s offers coffee and breakfast foods to commuters at the downtown Metra stop, but Elftmann said the commuter crowd represents a small percentage of revenue, and said the business does not draw a lot of customers from The Boulevard at Central Station, an upscale apartment development just to the south.
He said he calculates “about 80 people a day” are rail commuters patronizing the business.
He said the business managed to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought a virtual halt to commuter train customers at Cavallini’s, which also offers banquets and private parties to offset what money it doesn’t receive from morning traffic.
“We’ve done a little over 2,000 banquets” Elftmann said.
The village and Elftmann are in dispute about whether Cavallini’s was nudged out.
“It’s unfortunate the story has been twisted around that the village is kicking him out,” Carr said.
Elftmann said he is “not begging to stay in a place I made from scratch from Day 1.”
“I’ve been here for two decades and nobody has ever handed me a (lease) termination letter,” Elftmann said. “I find that to be disgusting and tacky.”
Carr said Cavallini’s still had an opportunity to come to terms with the village until later in August.
“He (Elftmann) had until probably three weeks ago to work something out,” Carr said.
“We have to keep moving,” Carr said. “We’re looking forward to the future of the downtown.”
In an email exchange between Carr and Elftmann, shared by Carr, Elftmann asks in late April to continue running the business until after Labor Day. Elftmann said in the message he wanted to take care of a scheduled banquet after Labor Day and deep-clean the coolers and walls.
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“I wish to conclude my establishment on the best terms possible both with the customers and the village,” he said in the email to Carr.
Asked whether he might consider opening elsewhere, Elftmann said he is going to take a break.
“I have been doing this seven days a week for 20 years,” he said.
Jacob Vandenberg, Tinley Park’s former mayor, and state Sen. Michael Hastings posted on Facebook about a thank-you card for Elftmann they are encouraging patrons to sign, and notifying them of an appreciation event Tuesday at Cavallini’s.
Vandenberg noted in his posting the closing was not Elftmann’s decision.
Vandenberg declined to comment Thursday, but said he supports the business.
mnolan@tribpub.com
