Corbin Dino’s restaurant sold; to become a sports bar

Dino’s Italian Restaurant in Corbin was sold at auction recently.

The former Dino’s Restaurant on Cumberland Falls Hwy. is in new hands and will be getting a new lease on life.

According to a Master Commissioner Deed filed Aug. 8 with the Whitley County Clerk, the building and property was sold to Lester Stewart of Paint Lick for $905,000.

The restaurant had been ordered closed in late November by order of the Kentucky Department of Revenue over unpaid sales and withholding taxes dating back to February 2013, totaling $86,283.15.

Stewart said Tuesday that he is partnering with Jeff Gillum to remodel the building to open a new location for Gillum’s Sports Bar.

“He has a nice concept,” Stewart said of Gillum, who owns and operates a location in Richmond.

According to the restaurant’s webpage, Gillum opened the Richmond establishment in 2008.

“Jeff saw a need for a full-service restaurant and bar in Richmond that offered a fun/family dining experience in addition to the up-scale bar/lounge atmosphere,” the website states.

Stewart said the menu would feature a variety of items from pizza to steak.

“It is probably the best pizza I have ever had,” Stewart said.

Stewart said he only received the keys to the restaurant that was padlocked on Nov. 30 within the last week.

In that time, he and other individuals involved have been going through the building to determine what changes need to be made.

Among those changes would be opening up one side of the building for the construction of an outside courtyard.

“It will have garage doors that come down to enclose it in the winter,” Stewart explained of the courtyard adding he expects work to begin within the next week.

Stewart said how quickly the renovations can be completed and other details finalized would determine when the restaurant may open.

“Gillum’s will be a nice concept,” Stewart said.

“We are going to make it a nice, first class restaurant.”

In an agreed order filed in Franklin Circuit Court on Oct. 23, 2015, The Arrow Group, LLC, the name under which Kostas (Dino) Alexiou operated the restaurant, was to make an initial payment of $10,000 and payments of $1,150 per month until full payment had been made.

“The agreed order was breached,” said Pamela Troutner, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Revenue, when asked what led the revenue cabinet to seek the injunction.