By Mary O’KEEFE

It has been a long time since the restaurant on the northwest corner of Honolulu Avenue and Verdugo Road closed it doors.

In 2017, CVW reported that restaurateur Tom Christopoulos announced that he intended to open up an eatery at the location, which he named Gus & Andy’s Montrose Grill. Since then he has been working on bringing the restaurant up to all kinds of codes, creating a place where the community could meet up with friends, family and teammates to have a great meal.

Christopoulos has been respectful of the heritage of the location, working with the approval – and gratitude – of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley. Although it looked like the restaurant would open at least by the end of 2021, permit issues continued to haunt and halt the progress.

The latest delay was caused by incorrect information given by the City of Glendale as to what water pressure and volume served the building. That incorrect information was given to the owner was confirmed by both the owner and the Crescenta Valley Water District (CVWD) – and disputed by the City of Glendale.

It has been a confusing and an expensive correction. As anyone who lives in the area knows all too well, the division between Glendale and the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County/La Crescenta can be blurry at times for those who work and live here. CVWD is the water source for the restaurant even though the building itself is in Montrose, which is an annexed area within the City of Glendale.

Bottom line is the owner and representatives of Glendale Water and Power and CVWD have been working to find a solution to this issue so Gus & Andy’s Montrose Grill can open.

Finally, it looks like a solution has been reached.

        “Allen Castillo [of the City of Glendale] and Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian have been very helpful with getting this resolved. CVWD will be connecting us to a new main water service in about five to six weeks,” said Christopoulos.

         As of this week, the City has provided Gus & Andy’s conditions to open with a temporary certificate of occupancy.

Christopoulos is cautiously optimistic but it does appear there is a light at the end of the permit tunnel. He is hoping to get conditional approval soon.

        “We are hoping for a soft opening in the first week of March,” he said.