Sarento’s atop Ilikai will close Sept. 30

Sarento’s at the top of the Ilikai will serve its last customers Sept. 30, after which the 25-year-old restaurant will close.

“We had been negotiating to extend (the lease), but then we decided to move on,” said Aaron Placourakis, founder and CEO, who named the Mediterranean-­cuisine restaurant after his grandfather.

Representatives at the Ilikai could not be reached to discuss what might succeed Sarento’s.

“We’d done our job at the Top of the I longer than anybody, and I’m stoked,” Placourakis said. “We’ve been very involved in our community all this time.”

The 9,500-square-foot, 175-seat restaurant fulfilled its lease obligation, “and that’s not always easy to do,” Placourakis said. “It’s something I’m very proud of, staying committed to the community and the employees that we’ve had all these years.”

All 47 employees will be relocated, he said.

Transfers will be made within the company, which has other restaurants on Maui, or through arrangements Placourakis made. Employees will have the chance to interview with Hawaii restaurateur Randy Schoch, CEO of Arizona-­based Desert Island Restaurants, which operates Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Romano’s Macaroni Grill locations in Hawaii.

With record-low unemployment, many newly opened restaurants, especially in Waikiki, have struggled to meet their staffing needs.

Placourakis closed Aaron’s Atop the Ala Moana in 2009 during the recession, at which time he said the decision not to renew the lease was due to the softening economy. That restaurant also had operated for 25 years and, under its previous name of Nicholas Nickolas, was the reason he moved to Hawaii, Placourakis said.

He previously had closed Nick’s Fishmarket in Waikiki. Placourakis’ other restaurant interests include Sarento’s on the Beach at Keawakapu, Son’z Steakhouse at the Hyatt Regency Maui, and Nick’s Fishmarket at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea.

He said he remains open to the idea of another restaurant location on Oahu and is exploring possibilities.