Loukinens' on 4th reopens

By Michelle Ownbey

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Loukinens' on 4^th has reopened as of March 2 after closing suddenly in mid-February.

Owners Keith and Laurie Loukinen announced Feb. 13 the restaurant at 517 S. Fourth St. would “temporarily close until further notice.” Loukinens’ opened in 2017 across from the Executive Mansion and featured “casual, upscale dining” using local, seasonal ingredients.

PHOTO BY MICHELLE OWNBEY

Loukinens' on 4 has reopened as of March 2 after closing suddenly in mid-February.

A recent post to the business’ Facebook page read, in part: “As with many small businesses before Loukinens’ and the many who will come after, financial mistakes have been made along the way… These missteps do not make us bad people. Since February 13 when this situation unfolded, Chef Keith has been working diligently with a solid group of long-term local business owners and banks to guide Loukinens’ to correction and recovery.”

A GoFundMe that was created immediately following the closure raised more than $1,500 before being taken down. Numerous comments were posted on Loukinens’ Facebook page criticizing the GoFundMe campaign and questioning whether the closure would be temporary or permanent, given that the property was listed for sale.

Jay Clark, a broker with The Real Estate Group, initially listed the property for sale in March 2023 at an asking price of $1,750,000. The listing price was lowered to $1,500,000 on Feb. 12, a day before the restaurant closed, and then withdrawn from the market on Feb. 20.

The posts regarding the closure and GoFundMe have since been removed from the business’ Facebook page.

According to Sangamon County tax records, the property was purchased in February 2017 for $150,000 by KALL Restaurants, an LLC controlled by the couple.

Prior to that, Augie Mrozowski operated it as August Restaurant, along with Augie’s Front Burner downtown.

On Dec. 8, the Chicago-based law firm of Noonan & Lieberman, Ltd. filed for foreclosure against the property on behalf of Community Loan Servicing. Neither the LLC nor its owners have filed a response to the complaint yet, according to Sangamon County records.

On Jan. 12, Loukinens’ posted on its Facebook page that it would no longer serve alcohol but invited customers to bring their own. The most recent posts announcing the reopening stated: “We will be open for food and soft drink service. We are finishing up with some things as we work to full service.”

Keith and Laurie Loukinen have not responded to requests for comment.