Rockford staple Capri buys former Shell as it prepares to open new restaurant in Loves Park

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — Capri Restaurant is preparing to move to a new home on Riverside Boulevard after six decades of service in downtown Rockford.

The owners of the Italian restaurant, which has been a staple in downtown since 1963, closed on the purchase around noon of the former Shell gas station at 6480 E. Riverside Blvd. They plan to begin demolition work immediately in hopes of quickly launching carryout service before a full dine-in restaurant can open sometime next year.

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The purchase comes about 13 months after the downtown Rockford restaurant, 313 E. State St., was severely damaged in a kitchen fire that erupted in one of Capri’s ovens. Customers have eagerly anticipated news of the restaurant’s future since the fire. Vito Grisanzio Jr., one of the owners, said they have been flooded with messages.

“We’re very happy to hear that people, even after a year, are still wondering, ‘when are you going to open,'” he said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s nice to know that people still think of us that way. We were worried that being off this amount of time was going to hurt us.”

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A 3,000-square-foot structure on the Shell site will be remodeled for carryout service. The gas station canopy will be razed to make way for more parking. Capri will then build a 2,200-square-feet addition to serve as the main dining space and an additional 2,000-square-foot outdoor seating space.

“Demo will start right away,” he said. “The main push is to get the carryout up and running relatively soon, and then work on the other stuff in 2024.”

In future phases, three 2,000-square-foot retail spaces would be built on the site. There are no specific plans for what businesses would occupy those spaces right now. The work is contracted to Rockford-based Contemporary Hammer Works, which recently handled renovations for the new Victory Pickleball in Loves Park.

The restaurant was founded by Grisanzio’s father, Vito Sr., and his uncle Domenic shortly after they came to the U.S. from southern Italy. Vito Sr., who is now 88, continued to work at the restaurant up until the fire and is eager to get back to work in Loves Park.

“He said he would bring a sledgehammer out to the property and get things going if needed,” Vito Jr. said. “We just want things to get up and running. We’re all antsy now.”

What happens to the Rockford Capri location?

Grisanzio said the family is still working to determine the future of the Rockford restaurant.

“Some of the biggest challenges with the downtown space was the cost,” he said. “That building is 150 years old, and there’s a lot of things that have to be upgraded to get it where it needs to be.”

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He said one option they’re considering is turning the downtown spot into a venue and event space.

“If we’re able to renovate that space and turn it into something that actually expands our business, maybe at a lower cost than what a full scale restaurant would be, that’s what we’re really trying to accomplish,” he said. “There’s a lot of history in that building so we’re trying to capture that.”

The family looked at dozens of different locations, including some small spaces for potential carryout-only service, before it landed on the Shell site.

Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury said the city worked with the family to help them get back into business as soon as possible.

“We try to have good customer service here so they can be up and running,” Jury said.

In September, the city began exploring creating a business development district along Riverside Boulevard. Such districts can levy up to an additional 1% sales tax with the revenue raised going toward improvement and redevelopment projects. Capri could potentially benefit from that.

It will also benefit from being located in an Enterprise Zone, a state program designed to stimulate economic growth by providing tax exemptions on building materials and state utility taxes for electricity and gas.

The Shell was purchased for $1,125,000 on Thursday, ending the long search for Capri’s next site and putting it in a high-traffic area of the Rockford region.

The location sees an average of 24,000 vehicles pass by each day, according to Illinois Department of Transportation daily traffic stats.

“We’re investing in our business and our future,” Grisanzio said. “I love this area. It just kind of came up as we were looking around and trying to make something work.”

Contractors don’t expect any environmental issues to stem from removing the gas tanks on the site because the station was built under modern standards that don’t experience the same issues that lead to decades-old stations being labeled as brownfields.

Jury said he expects Capri to find success in Loves Park.

“I think these guys are going to do great,” he said. “We’re excited, obviously, to have them here. … and there’s going to be a lot of people that are really happy.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas