Burr Ridge Village Hall Changes Tune On Restaurant

Burr Ridge IL

28 September, 2021

9:26 AM

Description

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge's mayor called the owners of Capri Express "good corporate citizens" at the end of Monday's Village Board meeting. And he said the village was poised to allow the business to get a larger awning that it had been seeking for months. This was a far cry from early August. At a meeting then, Trustee Guy Franzese asked his colleagues to delay the awning request, alleging that Capri Express was involved in an Aug. 5 incident with another business at County Line Square. He said he wanted to see a police report first. The other trustees agreed. Earlier this month, the police found Capri Express owners Phil and Vito Salamone were not involved in the incident. Rather, it involved former Trustee Zach Mottl and Filippo "Gigi" Rovito, owner of Capri Restaurant, a separately owned business. Franzese told Patch he agreed with the police report. In July, the trustees had given preliminary approval for the awning. At a meeting after Franzese's statement, the board rejected the request, saying the restaurant's delivery drivers were using the fire lane. The board promised to revisit the issue in October. At Monday's meeting, Mayor Gary Grasso praised Capri Express and said it had been complying with fire lane rules. He said he wanted to allow the restaurant to have its awning in advance of the board's Oct. 11 meeting, when it is expected to vote on the matter, as long as no one on the board objected. No one did. Tensions increased earlier this year when Capri Express and others opposed Rovito's proposal for the Are We Live lounge in County Line Square. The Village Board later approved it. Grasso maintains close ties with Rovito. The mayor has served as the businessman's lawyer in a number of instances, and Rovito gave $5,000 to Grasso's unsuccessful 2018 campaign for attorney general. (It was later returned because of a controversy.) A plate at Capri Ristorante is named in the mayor's honor. And Grasso's son's valet business contracts with the restaurant.