Chef and owner Greg DeSanto says he is closing Olio on March 11 because of health problems.
The restaurant is at 301 E. Bay St. Downtown.
“As many of you know I have some progressing physical limitations lately, due to multiple underlying medical conditions,” he said in a Feb. 28 Facebook post.
“It will require a year of recovery, from a series of surgeries. As a chef and an owner, that makes it impossible for me to continue operating the restaurant.”
In March 2021, he spoke of selling his 11-year-old restaurant.
Lost sales because of customers working remotely rather than in Downtown offices because of the coronavirus pandemic and his need for a hip replacement were reasons for placing the restaurant for sale. At that time, he said sales were down 60% to 75% from pre-pandemic levels.
He had listed the 4,141-square-foot restaurant at $550,000 according to Colliers International. He was open to selling the restaurant equipment and his intellectual property connected to Olio, he said.
DeSanto thanked customers, suppliers and his staff in the Facebook post commending team members who displayed loyalty during the past year.
“We have had quite a list of crew members through the years. Some went above and beyond, sacrificing of themselves, and their own lives, to help see us through some tough times,” he wrote.
DeSanto said it is his intention to return to the restaurant industry. He has spoken in the past of opening a new restaurant under a new concept in the Mandarin area upon his recovery.
He said future announcements will be made on Facebook and other social media.
“If the area is right, the price is right, the space is right, all bets are off and I’d go anywhere. The dream space would be a little smaller and closer to home,” he told the Daily Record in March.
