Dupage Policy Journal

Spiro Roumpas, the operator of Ki’s Steak and Seafood Restaurant, had a hard time keeping up on what otherwise would have been a regular Wednesday night.

The restaurant has been exceptionally slow. In fact, it has lost around 40% of its normal business over the last year. 

But this night was different. Old friends and community members came in droves, conversations filled the dining room, utensils clinked against plates and ice tinked against glasses as Roumpas answered phone calls from supporters as far away as Boston and California. 

“It is heartwarming,” Roumpas said of the community support.

This was the scene after Ki’s owners declared they would not be shutting down the restaurant dining room again despite orders to do so from Gov. J.B. Pritzker. 

“My plan is not to shut down,” Roumpas told DuPage Policy Journal. “I just want to be here for my people. I haven’t forced any employees to come in and I won’t, and I am not forcing customers to come in.” 

The eatery is the oldest continually operated restaurant in DuPage County. It was established in 1936 and has been in the Roumpas family since 1980. 

Altogether, the restaurant provides jobs to around 40 employees, some of whom have worked there for decades.  

“I am not just trying to feed myself, I have other families depending on me,” Roumpas said. “The governor doing this unconstitutional policy . . . it is just going to destroy businesses.” 

Roumpas stressed the business staying open was not a political decision. 

“We are not looking for a government handout or to be martyrs or to fight the system,” Roumpas said. “We just want to make a living. I have bills to pay, my employees have bills to pay.”  

Pritzker made the announcement on Tuesday that restaurants in DuPage, Kane, Kankakee and Will would be disallowed from hosting customers indoors after an increase in Covid cases was recorded in the region. 

In response, Ki's posted a sign with a message of support for freedom with a note stating the restaurant would not be closing. The ownership followed with a Facebook post. 

“We are standing up for freedom and WE WILL STAY OPEN!” the Facebook post reads. “We have been in business for 80+ years and no one is going to tell us we can’t live out the American dream.” 

Roumpas said he does not dispute that Covid is harmful, but he said the small business community should not bear the brunt of its economic destruction. 

“The virus is terrible tragedy, but we have to move forward, we can’t be stagnant,” Roumpas said. “It will go away and get better.”

As of July, 2,400 businesses in the Chicago area reported they had shut down for good after being shuttered due to Pritzker’s executive orders.  

In August, Yelp reported 97,966 small businesses had closed nationwide since the beginning of the pandemic. That was up from around 80,000 a month earlier. 

Roumpas said he finds the disparity between how businesses are being treated to be unbelievable. 

“I walk into Menards and there are 500 people buying tools or whatnot and they are saying that is OK?” Roumpas said. 

Roumpas said Pritzker’s executive orders are diminishing his establishment’s earning potential. 

“Government is crippling us,” Roumpas said. “J.B. sits on a throne and dictates. Let people decide what they want to do.” 

Now, Roumpas said other DuPage businesses are pledging to join his act of defiance. 

“The outpouring of support was amazing,” Roumpas said. “I’ve had six different restaurants call me today — literally six restaurateurs in DuPage County. They told me, ‘Somebody needed to stand up and we are going to follow suit.’ There is power in numbers. There is power in unity.” 

Roumpas said the restaurant also received calls of support from both the Glendale Heights Police Department and DuPage Sheriff’s Office.

When the doors to Ki’s Steak and Seafood Restaurant open on Friday, social distancing will be in effect, employees will be masked and hygiene practices will be in place, yet still they will be in violation of the executive order. 

Roumpas does not know what will happen, but he is ready with a handful of cards from local attorneys who have offered to take his case. 

“We do live in America,” Roumpas sighed. “We still are in this country.”