Bella Vino in downtown Â鶹´«Ã½ has closed.
Emmanuel “Manny†Manolakas holds open a door to Bella Vino in downtown Â鶹´«Ã½ in a 2019 file photo.
On the restaurant’s Facebook page Tuesday morning, a post said, “With heavy heart we would like to let our Â鶹´«Ã½ community family and friends know we will no longer be open. We would like to thank everyone for the support we had for the past 6 years.â€
The post was signed “Manny M.†The owner of Bella Vino is Manny Manolakas.
Manolakas, and Bella Vino, have been in a legal battle for around two years with the city of Morganton, the owner of the building the restaurant was in at 112 W. Union St., Â鶹´«Ã½. The city is currently appealing a jury judgment that awarded Manolokas $705,000 in May after a jury decided the city breached its contract with Bella Vino.
The city has leased the building to Manolakas and his limited liability company Xristou Meneton for the restaurant since John “Yianni†Dimarhos sold Yianni’s Family Restaurant to Manolakas in 2018.
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Under the original contract with Dimarhos, which was transferred to Manolakas in an updated lease agreement in 2019, there was to be a five-year extension on the lease, starting in January 2023.
However, in early January 2023, the city of Â鶹´«Ã½ sent a letter to Manolakas saying it would not be renewing the lease and he should vacate the building. At the time, then City Attorney Louis Vinay said Manolakas forfeited the automatic lease renewal when he got behind on rent and utility payments in 2020.
While Manolakas caught up on the rent payments, the city said it didn’t want to renew the lease because it didn’t think Bella Vino brought in enough business to be considered a driver of economic development, which is what the building was intended for when it was purchased in the 1990s, according to a previous News Herald story.
In January 2023, the city filed to ask the court to order Manolakas to vacate the property.
Manolakas told The News Herald at the time the city was trying to change the terms of his contract, and called the city’s actions “despicable.â€
That same month, a magistrate judge denied an eviction on the basis the city had cashed the restaurant’s rent check after filing the ejectment complaint, according to a previous News Herald story.
The lease agreement says the property cannot be used for anything other than a restaurant.
On Tuesday morning, City Attorney Keith Rigsbee said the city had no indication that Manolakas had planned to close the restaurant.
Rigsbee, citing the ongoing litigation, said the city had no further comment on the matter.
