Continental Restaurant Opens Banquet Facility

, a senior member of Buffalo Grove’s dining community, is bucking the gloomy economy by opening a new banquet facility.

“There are times when the economy’s not that great that it's good to put something new and exciting in front of customers,” owner Peter Panayiotou said. “I think this is going to help out. Everybody’s going to start talking that something’s happening.”

The addition, which Panayiotou said cost about a half-million dollars, adds 3,500 square feet to the restaurant, located in a shopping center on the northwest corner of Dundee and Buffalo Grove roads.

The space allows 15 tables for eight and a “head table” for 22, and will feature an expanded kitchen and its own bathrooms with custom tile work, Panayiotou said.

He describes the space, which he said was designed by his wife, Zena, as “modern and elegant. We tried to go a little more upscale over there.”

The space will host casual to black-tie events. Menu plans call for four different banquet packages, ranging in price from $12 to $85 per person, he said, plus a buffet.

Entrees will include chicken dishes, brisket, tilapia, shrimp, scallops, skirt steaks, crab legs, prime rib and fillet mignon.

When the space isn’t hosting a banquet or private party, Panayiotou said it will handle overflow from the main restaurant and will serve the same menu from that side of the business.

After getting his start washing dishes at a Crystal Lake restaurant, Panayiotou opened the Continental in 1995 in the same shopping center where it stands now, but to the south of the existing .

The 4,500-square-foot restaurant opened just to the south of that on Aug. 30, 2001. It features an eclectic menu, from omelets and sandwiches to hearty dinners and Jewish and Greek specialties and desserts.

The Continental is also a popular gathering place for breakfast and after events at nearby .

The new banquet room will enable The Continental to tap into what Panayiotou hopes is a lucrative local, underserved banquet community.

“If you are the new guy, people are going to start coming to you,” he said.

Several parties already are booked for the space, he said.