Everyone sparkles at the Four Stars restaurant. Since the 1920s the diner at 1164 W. Madison has been home for factory workers, cops and most recently real estate agents. The Four Stars is on the fringe of what locals call Oprah Village.

Harpo Studios is just two blocks away.

The television studio gave rebirth to the West Loop. And at the end of this month, the Four Stars will close, likely to make way for condos. Frank and Vasiliki Haralambous have owned the restaurant for 20 years. They sold the building but will not disclose the developers. Frank and Vasiliki run the place with their sons Andy, 28, and Louis, 27 -- thus the Four Stars. The family is denoted by four stars on a wood canopy over the grill. The eatery opened in the mid-1920s as one of the first of the local chain of De Mars restaurants.

The Four Stars includes four booths and 12 swinging diner stools. The 72-seat diner is painted in burgundy and mauve, which creates a fluffy Mary Kay Cosmetics decor. An adjacent bar has a CD jukebox filled with Otis Clay soul and "All The Best From Greece."

Truck through the window

"We remodeled the place in '93," said Andy Haralambous. "A month later a semi-truck came through the front window. It almost killed my dad. We wound up losing the registers." But the Four Stars never lost a customer.

Woody Curington, 55, has been a regular since 1978 when it was the Stop n' Eat. Curington is a delivery man for a restaurant and bar company in the neighborhood. He eats at the Four Stars five days a week (the diner is also open 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday, but closed Sunday). Curington is one of those guys filled with diner wisdom.

When you ask the long and lanky gentleman if he would like to sit down, he will answer, "Nah, I got some more growing to do."

Former Bulls all-star Norm Van Lier drops by the Four Stars. "Oprah?" asked Haralambous. "One time she stopped by in a limo and got a cup of soup to go."

The Four Stars is best known for its Thursday special -- Greek chicken and potatoes. The recipe belongs to Vasiliki like the Bulls belong to West Madison. Her lemon/oregano/ garlic/salt/pepper seasoning is delightful.

Curington said: "The restaurant became more family oriented when it became the Four Stars." Haralambous added, "It will be sad when we close. I've been working here since I was 7 years old. The customers are like my aunts and uncles."

On hectic mornings, regulars shout orders from a wallboard above the diner counter: "Denveromlette, $5.45!!!" Many complain that the wallboard's "gyros" is spelled "Giros." The Four Stars ran out of "y's."

"It's not about the spelling," Haralambous said. "It's all about what it is."

Originally published online here: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/210849,CST-NWS-diner15.article