The 2011 edition of the Dead Restaurant file
If you’ve had a dream of owning your own cozy Italian trattoria, Sterling Scott of Sperry Van Ness realtors has a great location for you: the space in the Northland’s Picture Hills Shopping Center last occupied by Mary Ann’s Trattoria. The El Maguey Mexican Restaurant venue, in the same complex, is also up for grabs and includes a fully equipped kitchen and some over-the-top painted furnishings.
Both restaurants opened and closed in 2011 — along with dozens of others, some famous names and other lesser-known bistros and cafes — but Scott, the managing director of Sperry Van Ness, thinks last year’s restaurant tragedies will be positive news for new start-up operations.
“There are some deals out there,” Scott says. “In the last two years, restaurateurs have been shopping for deals, and landlords have not wanted to budge on rental prices. I think there will be more of a meeting of the minds in 2012 with both sides giving in a little more. And 2012 will be a great year for finding fully equipped restaurant locations, which can be a real advantage when it’s so difficult to get start-up capital from banks.”
So as the memory of 2011 begins to fade away, let’s not look at this list of closed restaurants as a heartbreaking turn of events (although, in many cases, that’s exactly what it feels like) but as an opportunity for new restaurateurs to open new places to dine.
