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Gioco set to reopen Wednesday
Tax issues settled, state says
04/27/2011 5:14 PM
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South Loop restaurant pioneer Gioco, shuttered earlier this year by tax issues, said it was planning on reopening for dinner Wednesday evening.
Two people who answered the phone at the restaurant Wednesday afternoon said the restaurant would serve dinner.
The state agency in charge of collecting the sales taxes that Gioco owes said it had finally received a check towards the back taxes that the restaurant owed, and that the restaurant’s liquor and business licenses had been reinstated.
Gioco, 1312 S. Wabash Ave., was closed in March after a series of slaps on the wrist from the Illinois Department of Revenue, which first revoked the restaurant’s liquor license in January and, eventually, its business license to operate last month.
Revenue spokeswoman Susan Hofer said Gioco needed to clear up its tax issues before it can open, or it could be in trouble. As of Wednesday morning, she said, they hadn’t done that.
“They need to either pay or be in a payment plan before they reopen,” Hofer said. “As of this morning, they’ve done neither. If they reopened, they would be in violation of the tax code.”
In that case, she said, the state would likely work with the attorney general to prosecute Gioco and its owners.
But after a manager at Gioco insisted in a phone conversation with Chicago Journal Wednesday afternoon that they had made an agreement with the state, a follow-up call to Hofer revealed that the restaurant had indeed sent the state a check and was in the process of paying back what it owed.
“The check is here — it might have been here last week,” Hofer said. “Everything hasn’t been signed and forwarded, but their business license was restored upon receipt of the check.”
Hofer said the payment plan is “in the process of being approved.” Gioco needs to keep current paying its sales taxes as they come in, and needs to incrementally pay the rest of its back taxes.