By ALEXANDRA CLOUGH
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Restaurants have to attract the public’s
attention if they want to compete in this fickle and value-conscious
dining market. So two eateries are opening with splashy specials.
First up: Barbecue. Park Avenue BBQ Grille is expanding to Boca Raton, taking the home of the original, and legendary, Tom’s Place barbecueat Glades Road and Dixie Highway. (The building formerly was occupied by the failed Dwayne Wade sports-grill chain, and before that, Bucky’s Barbecue. ) Owner Dean Lavallee
said the recession created an opportunity for Jupiter-based Park Avenue
to expand into Boca at a good lease price. “There’s opportunity in pork
in Glades and Dixie, and we hope to take advantage of that,” Lavallee
said. He expects the chain’s 10th restaurant to be open in mid-November.
To introduce Park Avenue to Boca diners, and
celebrate the company’s 21st year in business, Park Avenue plans a
chain-wide promotion during the first week of December: Food at 1988
prices. For instance, a full rack of baby back ribs will cost $9.99,
down from the usual $17.99 price.
Meanwhile, Harpoon Louie’s, the iconic Jupiter seafood restaurant, has returned to South Florida, led by its original operator, Ken DePasquale. To
celebrate, DePasquale isn’t hosting a grand opening at his new
oceanfront location in Deerfield Beach. Instead, he’s hosting some
grand deals, starting with 50 percent off every food item Monday
through Friday, and after 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The deal
started Thursday and runs for a week, at least. The idea is to do
something nice for consumers: “I’d rather do this than blow $15,000 on
a big grand opening,” DePasquale said.
For those not familiar with Harpoon Louie’s, this popular seafood
restaurant facing the Jupiter Lighthouse once was a landmark in north
county and the site of many engagements and celebrations. DePasquale
and majority owner Bill Coleman came up with the concept during the
1970s, and they cornered the mid-priced dining market in northern Palm
Beach County throughout that decade and into the 1980s. At one point
they served 600,000 meals a year. In 1987, the restaurant was sold.
(The restaurant space is now known as the Crab House).
The Prakas Group’s Tom Prakas brokered both deals and serves as a consultant to Harpoon Louie’s, too.
Now for something completely different: Clematis Street in West Palm Beach has hooked Off The Hookah, anEgyptian
restaurant and lounge. The Fort Lauderdale restaurant company (which
also has a location in Richmond, Va.) is taking a whopping 15,000
square feet of space formerly occupied by
Gallerie, in the 300
block of Clematis. Off The Hookah leased the former furniture showroom
after scouting the market for more than a year, owner Ihab Atallah said. Again, the recession created an opportunity for the Atallah family to go into the space at a reasonable price.
What awaits the Off The Hookah visitor Expect a Vegas-like
atmosphere, replete with waterfalls, belly dancers and “flair”
bartenders who will spin bottles, toss drinks and do other aerobic
feats with libations. A $1.5 million renovation is planned, Atallah said.
The interior will be akin to “dining in your living room,” with sofas
and even beds where patrons can feast on the restaurant’s full menu of
Mediterranean food, Atallah said.
The beds may be one novelty, but so are the hookahs, which are
water pipes used for smoking. Off the Hookah doesn’t use tobacco-based
products. Instead, the pipes are filled with an herbal compound that
comes in various flavors. “You can eat on the bed and hang out on the
bed. You can relax, kick your shoes off and people watch,” Atallah
said. Look for an opening in December.
Anderson & Carr’s Paul Snitkin, who brokered
the deal, said the restaurant’s expansion to Clematis Street further
diversifies the area’s dining options. In fact, Clematis soon could
become a sort of Epcot in West Palm Beach, with a world’s array of cuisines along one street.
Alexandra Clough writes about the economy, real estate and the law. Contact her at alexandra_clough@pbpost.com.
Originally posted 2009-10-02 00:00:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
