GREEKTOWN — Hundreds of items from an iconic Greektown restaurant's nearly half-century in business are on the auction block Tuesday.
The items, ranging from authentic Greek collectables to commercial kitchen equipment, were amassed by the now-close Parthenon restaurant over 48 years in business. Bob King Auctions kicked off the auction Tuesday morning at the former restaurant, 314 S. Halsted St.
With a single sign out front, The Parthenon owners quietly announced the restaurant would close for good in September.
RELATED: THE PARTHENON, ICONIC GREEKTOWN RESTAURANT, CLOSES AFTER 48 YEARS
A week later, a the Sun-Times reported that Parthenon owners owed about $475,000 in state and federal taxes.
According to the Bob King Auctions website, all items must be out of the former restaurant by Thursday because the landlord "wants it to become a vanilla box."
"Everything will be sold down to the bare walls," the website states.
Items slated for sale Tuesday included:
• The Parthenon's sign, reading: "The Parthenon Restaurant, a Greek Classic"
• The Parthenon's original Greek oil murals on canvas
• framed photos of celebrities at the restaurant during happier days, including Blackhawks greats and a younger looking Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th)
• the restaurant's old cash register
• a French provincial baroque gilded gold framed mirror
• an assortment of vintage Greek collectibles
Check out all of the goods being sold online.
After two failed health inspections, The Parthenon was shut down by the city at the end of March but later reopened. At the end of August, the restaurant was serving food from a booth during the annual Taste of Greektown.
The restaurant at 314 S. Halsted St. opened in 1968 by brothers Bill and Chris Liakouras. The Parthenon earned $110 on its first day, the restaurant's website says. Three years later, the brothers bought the building next door and expanded the restaurant.
The restaurant is widely credited as having invented the Greektown tradition of serving tableside flaming saganaki, according to the restaurant's website.
Before it closed, the Parthenon routinely served weekend crowds of more than 1,000 customers, said owner Chris Liakouras.
In March, Parthenon owners opened Aviva, a Mediterranean restaurant, in The Parthenon's former banquet room at 310 S. Halsted St. Aviva has since closed, and owner Lorraine Rief-Liakouras, Liakouras' wife, now plans to open sports bar The Ambassador Public House at the location.
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