By Nestor CASTIGLIONE

Locals and businesses still mourning the loss of Rocky Cola Café, which had formerly occupied the crucial northwest corner of Honolulu Avenue and Verdugo Boulevard and has sat empty since its closure in 2012, will soon have reason to rejoice.

Tom Christopoulos, a longtime resident of La Cañada-Flintridge, is planning to open an establishment at the space that will be called Gus & Andy’s Montrose Grill.

Christopoulos said that the concept for the establishment promises to be a “fresh casual and family oriented” breakfast, lunch and dinner eatery with a full bar.

“It’s going to be a new concept for me,” he said. “But I’m excited for it. We need something like this in Glendale.”

Gus & Andy’s Montrose Grill would be the latest entrepreneurial venture for Christopoulos, who has opened restaurants in Santa Clarita and in the Washington, D. C. area.

“Our family has been in the restaurant business for many, many years. I grew up in all of it,” he said. “Everything from fast food and coffee shops to lounges and bars. [I]pretty much got to work with it all.”

Christopoulos said that his sons, Costa and Andrew, will be running the restaurant’s day-to-day operations.

He added that he was eager to get the business up and going as he felt that it was a “shame” that the space had remained empty for so long.

“I moved into the area in 1976 and have loved it ever since,” he explained. “I had grown up with Rocky Cola Café and knew it for a long time. It’s the main entrance to Montrose, a great location for visibility.”

A grand opening date has yet to be determined, although a Craigslist ad posted last week was already recruiting for employment.

  Nestor CASTIGLIONE