By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Stone Eagle Tavern, a locally owned restaurant that has proudly separated itself from the chains that line East State Street, will close next month after 15 years in business.
Owner Jimmy Vitale said the restaurant’s 15-year lease expired on Dec. 31, and he learned Thursday that the owner of the building at 6445 E. State St. plans to sell the property and not extend Stone Eagle’s lease.
The restaurant will close on or about Saturday, Feb. 3, giving guests a chance to redeem gift cards, visit with staff, relive memorable occasions and enjoy their favorite dishes one more time, Vitale said. He also wants to help ensure that his 28 employees move into new jobs.
Vitale said he has a dedicated, long-time staff with some working with him for more than 32 years.
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It hasn’t been announced who the buyer is. The owners of the property, DJNK Holdings, said the new business can’t be announced yet but confirmed it is a quick-service restaurant chain. A real estate transaction has not yet gone through the Winnebago County Clerk & Recorder’s Office.
Stone Eagle Tavern is recognized from the roadside for its seven limestone eagles and its sign that proudly announces “Local entrepreneur since 1976. Not a chain restaurant.”
“You can’t believe how many people stop from out of town and say, ‘I’m stopping because I saw you’re an independent operator and we’re pro-independent because we have our own business,” Vitale said in an interview with the Rock River Current. “That was just an afterthought that turned out to be a great marketing idea.”
Vitale opened Stone Eagle in late 2009 after renovating the former Cheddar’s restaurant. Over the years, he said, it’s developed regulars who got to know the restaurant so well that they even ask for a specific server and table by name.
“They’ll call and say, ‘I want Table 26,’ and they know exactly how many people it seats,” Vitale said.
He said Stone Eagle’s reputation was built on how he and his staff treat the guests.
“People go out to be recognized. People go out to be treated well, to be made to feel special. That’s my niche,” he said. “Anybody that can buy a cup of soup is your boss. That’s very humbling experience. You have to be humble, and you have to be gracious.”
Those regulars are part of what makes the work rewarding for Vitale after nearly five decades in the restaurant industry.
“It makes me want to come to work every morning because it’s not easy when you get to my age to want to get up and get back in the ring,” he said.
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He said about three months ago a woman shared a memory with him about a time she visited Jungle Jim’s, Vitale’s first restaurant in the late 1970s. She was a young girl at the time and a fussy eater, telling her parents she wanted McDonald’s and not the food at Vitale’s restaurant. Not wanting to leave a guest disappointed, he went to McDonald’s and got her a Happy Meal.
“She even remembered the table, Table 4: A round table just underneath the chandelier, and I remember doing it,” Vitale said. “The idea is that you please the guest, and the extra mile you go, that makes a difference. Chain restaurants don’t do that.”
What’s next for Vitale
Vitale, 74, has a long legacy in the local restaurant industry. He started at age 25 when he owned and operated Jungle Jim’s Oyster Bar and Restaurant at 1431 N. Main St. He also owned and operated the Crystal Pistol Beach Club in DeKalb, St. James Envoy in Rockford and Ziltzie’s at North Towne Mall before running the riverfront Cliffbreakers, one of the city’s premiere upscale restaurants, from 1993 to 2006.
He said he ran many of the businesses alongside his family, with the loving help of his sister, Mary Ellen, and his parents, Edythe and Angelo Vitale.
Vitale said that the late Rob Funderburg Sr., a farmer, businessman and philanthropist, told him a farmer’s best fertilizer is his footprints. Vitale took that philosophy to the restaurant industry as a working owner who “got in the ring every day.” At the former Jungle Jim’s he once worked 38 months without a day off, he said.
Despite the closure of Stone Eagle, Vitale said he’s not stepping away from the restaurant industry. He’s working on plans for a new place, so long as his health holds up, he said.
“I have one restaurant left in me, but it’s not going to be a big operation,” he said. “It’s going to be a very small, boutique type of place.”
Those plans are in the early stages.
“You have to be tuned in to the taste of our local guests: You can’t be too high-handed, and you can’t be too low-brow,” he said. “It’s got to be the right tempo, and it’s a year-by-year learning experience because tastes change.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas