DeKALB — Rosatis’ DeKalb location was permanently closed Sunday with no notice given to the public. Rosatis was a popular place for students and the general public to go for food and drink, having been voted Best Food Special in the 2019 Best of DeKalb.

Employees were informed Thursday that the restaurant would be out of business indefinitely. Former employee Alondra Banuelos, a political science major at NIU, has worked at Rosati’s since April of 2019.

“Management just kind of said they had a meeting, and if you wanted to go, you could,” Banuelos said. “We didn’t know about the closing until the last week.”

Like many others, Banuelos said she will miss Rosati’s.

“It was a place off-campus where people would be comfortable going [to] just chill and have a drink,” Banuelos said. “Game days were fun, and it’s sad losing that aspect.”

Former customers wonder if the restaurant will reopen at any time in the future.

Former employee Ethan DeBoer, time arts major and a cartoonist for the Northern Star, has been working at Rosati’s in August of 2017.

“It’s hard to say if it will reopen,” DeBoer said. “It seems like a lot of restaurants in DeKalb are losing business. I would serve on a Monday and only get one or two tables. I don’t know if Mondays are just slow or if business doesn’t boom as much on a Thursday or Friday.”

The Northern Star was not able to acquire the owner’s contact information.

Calling the store’s phone number returns a message claiming the location is closed.