The Ft. Lauderdale River House Restaurant is closed.
River House in Fort Lauderdale (Sun Sentinel/Mike Stocker / July 14, 2009)
In a letter sent to the City of Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday, Tim Petrillo (president of The Restaurant People - operators of the River House) stated that the Ft. Lauderdale Historic Restauruant/catering facility is now officially closed. The reason behind the closure? Poor performance. The letter also said that the group is "exploring all options, and we hope to present a new plan for this property". Bryan Homes, Inc. (Tim Petrillo is an officer in the corporation), will continue to lease the spot the restaurant sits on from the city. He also says that he plans to honor all bookings for the River House. I wonder what that means?
Lets hope with the 'new plans' they also keep the existing building as it brings some charm downtown. Maybe next year there will be a new restaurant here and plans for the Las Olas Riverfront complex. It's amazing to see how hard the Las Olas area is getting hit with the recession.
Even though the restaurant is closed, he can honor bookings by bringing in a caterer for each event. I watched them setup an event there yesterday.
You should know that a new business has taken over the old Shirttail Charlie's location: Pirate Republic.
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We wanted to visit the restaurant on an up coming vacation. Is there any chance of making a booking at somewhere similar?
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Aw, that's too bad. It's a place I really loved to visit whenever I go to Ft. Laud. You're right that the building has some really nice character. Hopefully whatever business has it next will preserve its beauty!
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