Keep your fingers crossed for Zorba's in Champaign

U of I students and staff, C-U residents, and Illinois allumni and gyro lovers all over are worried about the future of Zorba's after a three-alarm fire in the building on Wednesday. Contrary to what you might expect, the fire did not start in Zorba's or in the restaurant next door, but rather in the apartments above them. However, the whole building was damaged so badly that it's going to have to be torn down. (No one was injured, by the way - most of the students were away on spring break last week.)

In a college campus environment, restaurants come and go like butterflies, but Zorba's has been there near the corner of Green and Wright for an impressive 29 years. It had a fairly limited menu, and of that menu two items probably accounted for 90 percent of its sales: great gyros and great fries. I just hope that, with all the restaurant real estate turnover that goes on around Green Street, the owner of Zorba's can find a new location to use to bring the businesss back.