Family Square Closes, New Pancake House To Open In Its Wake

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Longtime owners of Bolingbrook staple Family Square Restaurant are retiring, with new owners and a new eatery taking its place, prompting an outpour of support from locals who've frequented the restaurant for years.

"Thank you so much for your services! You will be missed," another person commented on Facebook.

"So sad, I love this place and will miss going there!! Always so nice and enjoyed so many things about this place," someone else said about the closing on Facebook.

"Holy cow, I remember when that was the only real restaurant in Bolingbrook," one user said of the local establishment on Patch.

Although Family Square, at 372 S. Bolingbrook Drive, closed its doors for good Sunday, it's not the end for the establishment. A new chapter is starting, and a few weeks' worth of remodeling will begin to transform the place into the new Tasty Biscuit Pancake House, whose extensive menu also offers keto and gluten-free options.

The pancake house also has a location in St. Charles, and the Bolingbrook location will be the owner's sixth restaurant, according to Roger Claar, Bolingbrook's mayor emeritus, so "she knows what she's doing."

Two years ago, a rumor floated around that one of the owners said the restaurant would close in 2020, but Tony told Patch in 2019 they're "not going anywhere." The rumor started after the restaurant decided to temporarily cut its hours due to slow business, Patch reported.

Family Square opened its doors in 1985 after purchasing the place for a former Bolingbrook resident. The family-owned and operated restaurant aimed to use the freshest ingredients and treated their children customers as "future adult customers," according to its website.

"I love Family Square and one of the reasons I do is it when you go in there you have a great service, great portions, friendly and efficient waitstaff, good food, and always smiles," Claar wrote in a Facebook post about the closing.

A testament to the community's love of the restaurant, a group of residents donated about $1,800 in tips to staff during the height of the pandemic in 2020. The gesture came as part of an initiative helmed by local attorney Joe Giamanco where the group gathers to have a pre-Christmas breakfast at a local restaurant.

"We know these tips won't make up for all that has been lost, but putting a smile on a stranger's face in these challenging times and asking for nothing in return, to me that's the type of giving that is the heart of true Christmas spirit," Giamanco told Patch in 2019.

Claar said the shopping center next door to the restaurant wanted to buy the space, but owners Tony and Nick Pitsilos chose not to sell it to them.

"Nick And Tony looked for just the right purchaser who would keep his GREAT wait staff and employees and continue to be a great restaurant to serve the people in Bolingbrook," Claar wrote about the closing.

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