Lucy's Chinese Food relocates restaurant

Lucy's Chinese Food has relocated one of its restaurants because of a lack of visibility and complications related to the road construction at Sunshine Street and Highway 65, according to its owners.

Lucy's recently opened at 2456 E. Sunshine St. and closed its location at 1834 S. Ingram Mill Road.

The Ingram Mill store opened in March 1995.

"Our business was adversely affected by the construction on East Sunshine and Highway 65" said owner Kami Gregoroski. "It cut the traffic count. We're doing two-and-a-half to three times the business we were at the Ingram Mill location."

Another reason for the move was the ability to offer drive-through service.

Co-owner Tom Gregoroski, Kami's husband, said there wasn't room for a drive-through at the Ingram Mill location. The new location has 1,900 square feet of space, an increase of 800 square feet from the former location.

Lucy's has a second location at 3330 S. Campbell Ave. Tom Gregoroski and his brother John Gregoroski are the owners of that location.

Lucy's history

The first Lucy's opened in 1980 and had only four tables. The restaurant was located in the current Savannah Square shopping center on South Campbell. After some location changes, it finally settled at 3330 S. Campbell Ave. in early 2001.

Lucy's founder was Lucy Gregoroski, who moved to Springfield from Taiwan in the early 1970s. Lucy, whose maiden name was Shu Ching Tseng, met her future husband, Carl Gregoroski, while he was in Taiwan working for a private company, according to Tom Gregoroski.

Lucy Gregoroski had an English tutor and watched television to help her learn English. She took her name from Lucille Ball.

Lucy ran her business from 1980 until 1991, when she retired after developing kidney problems. She died in May 1996.