Plainfield Restaurant Closes After Unpaid Rent Lawsuit

PLAINFIELD, IL — Two months after a local developer filed an unpaid rent lawsuit against a Plainfield restaurant, the eatery has closed up shop. Katie O'Connor's Pint House & Eatery, 13717 Route 30, said in a lengthy Facebook post that of a pair of potential owners has been thwarted in their attempts to buy the business. The post blamed the property owners of the strip mall, saying they hoped to reopen at a different location but "unfortunately will spend months in court punishing those who have done this to us."

The news comes two months after property owner Dayfield Properties sued the restaurant for more than $24,000 in unpaid rent.

The lawsuit, which was set to go to trial last week, names as defendants Katie O'Connor's Pint House and Eatery Inc. and Robert J. Darin, who is listed as guarantor. In November, Darin told Patch the business would not close.

"I'll work it out, and we're going to be fine," Darin said at the time. "It will be worked out with the landlord of the building. They'll be paid, probably by the end of the week."

According to court records, a Will County judge on Jan. 4 granted an emergency motion to continue the case until Jan. 12. In the motion, an attorney with Chuck Bretz & Associates asked for the case to be postponed due to Darin's health issues, saying a doctor had ordered him to remain bedridden and he was not able to testify.

An attorney from the Bretz firm did not immediately return a message from Patch on Thursday.

The Facebook message posted Wednesday by Katie O'Connor's said the restaurant's owners had decided in October 2017 to sell the business to their friends, but that the owners of the strip mall "hire(d) a collection attorney and required a new sign on fee of $25,500 for the new couple to apply, terminated the current owner's lease and are playing them stating that there are two Naperville restaurants interested in the space where Katie O'Connor's currently resides."

The post accuses Dayfield Properties of going "so far as to change the locks on the restaurant, where employees kept their personal items. Along with this, they are getting involved with buying equipment from the bank that the current owners were paying off their loan."

The post calls out the managers of Dayfield Properties, including Plainfield developer Clayton Olsen, by name. Olsen did not return a message from Patch on Thursday afternoon.

The Facebook post called the turn of events a "travesty," adding:

We, as Katie O'Connor's were trying to continue on with the great food and service by selling to local friends that we believe could have made the restaurant better than we ever could. We sincerely want to apologize to our loyal and outstanding customers for this turn of events. We plan to re-open a location elsewhere, but unfortunately will spend months in court punishing those who have done this to us. Once again, our deepest apologies to the amazing customers and team we had working with us at Katie O'Connor's.

Katie O'Connor's previously closed briefly in 2016 before reopening under new management.

The business was listed as permanently closed on Yelp!, where a reviewer said she'd tried to eat there on New Year's Eve but found the eatery closed. A telephone number for the business was disconnected.

Image via Google Streetview