Harrisonburg restaurant closes doors after 26 years

A beloved restaurant in Harrisonburg closed its doors for good on Saturday.

Panos Restaurant and Basement Bar and Lounge

that they would be closing indefinitely.

In October of 2018, Pete T. Karageorge and his wife, Alex, sold the restaurant to a new owner. The new owners kept the restaurant's name and most of the staff. But just months later, they shut the place down.

Pete and Alex still own the property, but they have no ties with the restaurant anymore.

"Another party that took over, we had nothing to do with the restaurant in the past four months since it's been sold," Alex Karageorge said. "It's like selling any business, we only lease the building and the property, so we're just landlords pretty much."

Some people who had reservations at the restaurant and booked gigs at the venue are now left with questions.

"I mean, it's disappointing, and hopefully we can make it up somewhere down the line to the locals," said Brandon Williams, a member of the band "The Hackens Boys," which was set to perform until they found out through Facebook that the lounge won't be open.

The previous owners said they are upset with the closing, especially because of the high number of loyal customers and events held there.

"One of the biggest ones we cater to every year, it's the cattle auction," Alex Karageorge said, "and they just walked away, and its embarrassing for us as well, although we have nothing to do with it and we are very, very sorry."

The previous owners are looking at ways to help those with scheduled events at the facility, but they said they can only do so much since they don't own the restaurant anymore.

We reached out to the current management team for an explanation behind the closing, but we have not heard back.

Stay with WHSV for the latest on this continuing story.