Greenfield's Balkan's Hopes to Reopen

The owner of Balkan's Family Restaurant, 7640 W. Forest Home Ave., a Serbian restaurant that has been closed for more than a year, hopes to reopen it as a pizzeria or an Italian restaurant, or both, according to notes from a Plan Commission .

Paul Sidhu, who owns the property, hopes to re-open the restaurant with a bar area and invest $17,000 worth of upgrades to the interior of the building.

One sticking point could be Sidhu’s desire to keep the restaurant and bar open until 11 p.m. In the past, Balkans' requests to stay open until 2 a.m. and then 11 p.m. were both denied by the Common Council At the time of its closure, Balkans was open until 10 p.m.

Balkans is located just west of .

The Plan Commission will also hear a proposal from Jeff Kohl, owner of , 9008 W. Forest Home Ave. Kohl hopes to obtain a special use permit to serve alcohol in a private banquet room that would eventually occupy the entire adjacent tenant space.

JSK Jewelers, according to the Plan Commission notes, does not intend to renew its lease this fall.

Kohl hopes to have the banquet room available potentially in conjunction with the existing wedding chapel or for other private group functions.

The banquet room, as proposed, would operate only with all food and beverages being catered in.