Source: Rockford Register-Star May 30, 1960
Auto Inn
Vito’s Ristorante
“Following His Roots, and Fulfilling a Dream” by Karla Nagy, associate editor, p 75 photograph of Olszewskis.
Chef Vito Olszewski, opened this authentic Italian eatery, 1t 1620 No. Bell School Rd. in May, 2011.
His grandparents, and then his parents, operated the Auto Inn; sold in 2001.
Olszewski studied at Chicago’s Le Cordon Bleu Cooking & Hospitality Institute, becoming a chef in 2003 – the same year he won a James Beard Foundation Scholarship.
Source: Northwest Quarterly magazine. Spring 2012, Vol. 9, No. 2, p 75.
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MetroCentre-Mayflower pact
Location 102 N. Main St./301 W. State St. (same location, both addresses)
Defined by RockfordTownshipAssessor.net as “Urban Mixed-Use Parking Garage” January 1986 a building permit was issued for a restaurant, $222,000. No occupant 1984, 1985,
“Centre-Mayflower pact angers restaurateurs” from Rockford Register Star June 20, 1984
“Downtown restaurateurs started a slow burn Tuesday after learning the MetroCentre Authority plans to spend $500,000 to entice the Mayflower Restaurant into opening a downtown business.”
“The restaurant would be located on the first floor of the parking deck being constructed by the MetroCentre Authority at State and Main Sts.”
“The MetroCentre money comes from Roy Fridh, a limited partner in the construction and ownership of the incomplete downtown parking deck. Fridh paying the MetroCentre so he in turn can receive the depreciation tax benefits from the building.”
“Logan said he opted to negotiate with the Mayflower and not seek bids from other restaurants because he wants to guarantee that the restaurant that opens in the parking deck is a well-known high-quality local business. The Mayflower has been in business in Loves Park for 50 years.”
“But downtown restaurateurs see the move as bringing a new competitor to the area and giving him an unfair advantage,”
Source: Rockford Register Star June 20, 1984
