Mericka’s Crest Hill restaurant back in business day after shooting – Shaw Local

Mericka’s had a good lunchtime crowd Wednesday, less than 24 hours after a shooting outside the Crest Hill restaurant shut down the business for most of the day.

“It’s going to take more than that to stop us from coming,” said Joe Oscepinski of Peru, who was waiting for an order of yodel burgers with his wife, Karen.

The Oschepinskis have been coming to Merichka for 40 years and said they’re not the only Peruvians who make a trip to the Crest Hill restaurant part of their culinary routine.

“The food — there’s nothing like it,” Karen Oscepinski said of Merichka’s appeal.

It could be described as a triumph of good food over bad, as business at Mericka’s kept humming despite Tuesday afternoon’s gunfights, which left several holes in the restaurant’s windows and siding.

Merichka manager Ryan George was cautiously optimistic as he prepared for a return to business as usual on Wednesday morning.

“Only time will tell,” George said of the shooting’s potential impact on future business.

Wednesday’s work was already booked with bookings for two funeral lunches and an evening party.

In “Merichka”, located at 604 “Teodor” St., customers are indeed heard about the shooting.

“We had someone who was very disappointed that we were closed yesterday,” George said, taking that as a good sign that customers were not deterred by the shooting.

No arrests have been made and police are continuing to investigate what led to the exchange of gunfire between the shooters on both sides of Theodore Street around 1pm on Tuesday. No one was apparently hurt, but the barrage of bullets also hit the Envisions Salon and the Ascendant Iron store, located in a strip mall across Theodore Street from Merichka, which is in Joliet.

The Crest Hill Police Department released images captured by security cameras in the area of ​​Tuesday’s shooting, which happened on Theodore Street.

Police are asking people who live in the area, 600 block of Theodore Street, to check their security cameras if they have them.

For better or worse, the restaurant shooting is seen by at least some as part of life in America today.

“I gave up when they started shooting up the grocery stores and the churches and the schools,” said Roger Thompson of Romeoville, a former Joliet resident who was eating at Mericka’s on Wednesday.

“It doesn’t stop us from coming here,” he said. “We’ve been coming here since 1975.”

Thompson dined with his wife, Felicia Thompson, who had a homecoming celebration at Merichka High School years ago and said Tuesday’s incident won’t stop her from coming to the restaurant.

“That’s my favorite,” Felicia Thompson said.

When she travels to visit relatives who have moved out of the area, they often ask her to bring Mericka’s famous sandwiches for the poor boy, Thompson said. When out-of-towners come to visit, Merichka is often where everyone goes to eat, she said.

Karen Oscepinski said she and her husband wondered what impact the shooting would have on the business and found out Wednesday when they pulled up to the restaurant and saw the number of cars parked outside.

“We pulled into the parking lot and got our answer,” Oscepinski said. “It didn’t stop people.”