The New Greenery restaurant may not be vacant long, after closing last week.
Efforts are underway to find a new operator, Tushar Desai, managing partner with brother Mitesh Desai of the next door motel, Americas Best Quality Inn, told the Register.
Desai said conversations had occurred with one potential occupant though, “we can’t do much until we have the keys” and he doesn’t want to identify the prospect until negotiations are further along.
Dan Oswalt, who has operated the restaurant for several years, removed kitchen and other equipment from the building Friday morning.
“I don’t have anything to say,” Oswalt told the Register, but did mention that utility and other costs “broke the camel’s back.” He groused that people want a sit-down restaurant, but then don’t support it, with Allen County Regional Hospital being a competing destination, “which is tax-supported.”
The Desais purchased the motel and restaurant from Philip and Tina Patel in December, Desai said. He allowed having a restaurant within easy walking distance was important to the success of a motel.
The restaurant has been open, except for short remodeling intervals, since it was built in 1961.
Desai and his wife, Sima, came to Iola from Beatrice, Neb., where they managed a motel.
“We like small towns and Iola is a very nice one,” he added.
Greenery seeks new blood
