Longtime Rockdale steakhouse served up ‘lots of good memories’

Dee Bode of Joliet ate french fried lobster for the first time Syl’s Restaurant in Rockdale 30 years ago and it was “so good,” she said.

But so was the restaurant’s prime rib Sunday brunch with unlimited mimosas, Bode said. She feels family-owned restaurants are especially invested in the communities they serve.

“We did our Will County Retiree Association’s Christmas party this year in the back in the banquet room,” Bode said. “Everyone raved about it. We were so excited to go back again next year. We finally found a place that everybody liked.”

On Jan. 3, Syl’s owner Maura Williams announced on the restaurant’s Facebook page that it was closing under current management, which elicited more than 300 comments, including some from people concerned about gift certificates they recently had bought.

Tom Grotovsky, owner of The Great American Bagel in Joliet, offered to redeem gift certificates for Syl’s in Rockdale with bagels and cream cheese in exchange for gift certificates.

[ Got gift certificates to Syl’s Restaurant in Rockdale? Owner of Joliet bakery and deli wants to help out. ]

Grotovsky also had plenty of sympathy for Williams. Her husband, Don “Duke” Williams, also her co-owner in the family business, died suddenly Oct. 5, 2022, at the age of 52.

The couple started the business as Duke’s Catering in 2002 and expanded through the years to include Premier Events and Catering, which has run events at the Renaissance Center in Joliet since 2017, although that might change soon.

Mostly, local patrons are stunned that Syl’s, which opened in 1946, according to the restaurant’s website, might be closed for good.

‘The food was just fantastic’

“My parents went there when they were dating almost every night,” Mary Beth Gannon of Joliet said. “Then, after I was born, they cut back to save a little money. I remember the waitress telling me how good I was in my high chair.”

Gannon said her parents, Edward and Judy, ate dinner at Syl’s every night for the six weeks they dated. Judy Gannon lived in Joliet and “she wanted a nice dinner,” Mary Beth Gannon said.

Besides, lobster was just $5 when they were dating in 1968 – or so Edward Gannon told the story, Mary Beth Gannon said.

“For their first date, he took her fishing and she was like, ‘What is up with that?’ ” Mary Beth Gannon said. “After that, they went to Syl’s with their drawn butter and lobster.”

Edward Gannon lived along Shepley Road in Minooka and actually caught turtles from the DuPage River that Syl’s staff prepared for customers, Mary Beth Gannon said.

She said her dad was friends with the late Edward “Cookie” Norton, who worked as at Syl’s before opening Cookie’s Restaurant in Minooka.

“My husband and I spent my first Mother’s Day at Syl’s,” Mary Beth Gannon said. “I went for the brunch and looked forward to it. We’d go there for Christmas, even.”

Brian Papesh of Joliet also ate at Syl’s with his parents and two brothers in their “nice Sunday clothes” for special occasions and always had a “very classy experience.” Papesh said his late father, Ed, knew the owner at the time, who always came to the table and greeted them.

Cheryl-Ann Koren of Joliet said her father was a local building contractor who remodeled Syl’s twice for the Pekol family, the original owners: once in the mid-1960s and once in the late 1970. Koren’s father also did some home remodeling for the family, she said.

But Koren also dined at Syl’s with her family and friends many times through the years, including shortly before Syl’s closed, and has “lots of good memories,” she said.

“It was an awesome place. It really was,” Koren said. “The food was just fantastic.”

‘Rockdale was like this mysterious place to us’

Bob Bannon of Crest Hill said his parents took Bannon and his six siblings to Syl’s once a year. They’d typically order the relish tray with cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, liverwurst and three-bean salad, he said.

Bannon said he’d order the butter steak because he “was special.”

He recalled the Friday night when his father, Joe, who was in a wheelchair, craved catfish. The staff at Syl’s let him come through the side door since he couldn’t navigate the two steps at the front door.

“We then sat down and my dad didn’t say a word for a half hour while he devoured the two full-body catfish,” Bob Bannon said in a Facebook message. “Made my heart happy that day.”

When Joe Bannon died a few years later, the family held his funeral dinner at Syl’s, Bob Bannon said. Other members of Bob Bannon’s family also frequently dined at Syl’s.

“Rockdale was like this mysterious place to us,” Bob Bannon said. “It was kind of fun to go to Syl’s once in awhile. It just felt special to go somewhere you did not go normally.”

Bode hopes Syl’s will reopen under new management. She praised the Williams family for their efforts.

“Duke really did wonders with the place,” Bode said. “The variety of food that chefs would have was fantastic. It’s a crushing blow for all.”