CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) -- When Sweet Basil Cafe in Champaign reopens, it will do so under new ownership and a new name.

April Smith, the manager of the Sweet Basil Cafe location in Hannover Park, told WCIA that Dimitri and Denise Karonis sold their restaurant after receiving an offer from an interested buyer. Smith said the Karonis' have been looking to sell lately and completed the sale via word-of-mouth.

The new owners plan to reopen the restaurant as "Sugar Berries Cafe" and serve breakfast, lunch and catering.

The Champaign Sweet Basil location has been closed for nearly a month after the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District issued multiple red placards following inspections. It all started with a routine inspection on Oct. 24.

The inspection report found 18 risk factor/intervention violations total and four repeat risk factor/intervention violations. Violations included cross contamination between raw beef and precooked corned beef hash in a cooler, the dish machine not properly sanitizing with chlorine sanitizer, concrete mixers used with power drills to mix batter and eggs and Home Depot buckets used to store waffle crepe batter.

All of this led to a red placard and the restaurant being labeled a Risk Category 1, meaning that a "large number of food handling operations typically implicated in foodborne outbreaks and/or the type of population served by the facility."

Despite the restaurant's claims that management made improvements, Sweet Basil received another red placard on Nov. 7. The violations found on that date included spoiled produce in the walk-in cooler, flies and cockroaches in the restaurant and a hose that was supplying water to a chemical dispenser which did not have a chemical attached.

Five days later, another inspection failed to improve Sweet Basil's standing. The pests that were observed on Nov. 7 were still there.

Now, Sweet Basil is in the "administrative process" of being cleared to reopen by the CUPHD. When that process is complete, Sweet Basil will reopen under a new name and new ownership.

Smith clarified that this only affects the Champaign location and not the rest of Sweet Basil's locations in Peoria and the Chicago suburbs. She could not say when the restaurant will reopen.