More people realizing their dream
Bam! Do you want to own the restaurant in Hernando Beach, Florida celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse gave two thumbs up?
Lagasse, famous for his two thumbs up, “bam!” and “kick it up a notch” gestures and catch phrases, dropped by R Beach Restaurant for his Emeril’s Flordia TV show on Food Network.
And he liked what he saw — a sprawling eatery, tiki bar, banquet hall and patio on a bay water canal off the Gulf of Mexico.
He also loved what he devoured — blackened grouper, sea scallops, seafood bisque, herb and lemon butter mussels, Angus steak and greco pasta with shrimp.
“Oh, I have lots of stories about R Beach and Emeril is just one of them,” said R Beach owner Fred Javidi, 57, with a laugh.
“But it’s time for me to retire and spend some more time on the boat fishing. Then I’ll be the one taking advantage of R Beach’s you-catch-it-we’ll-cookit program.”
Javidi expects the buyer of the waterfront property and business, listed for sale for US$1.2 million, will be someone from up north who wants to live the dream of owning a restaurant in paradise. “I did it,” he said. “I decided to make Florida my home after growing up in Allentown (Pennsylvania) and living in Brooklyn so I could wear shorts and T-shirts every day. Now it’s someone else’s turn.”
It’s a trend Kelowna-based RestaurantsForSaleGlobal.com, the site which lists scores of such opportunities, only sees getting bigger.
“What could be better than realizing your restaurant dream in a resort location?” asks RestaurantsForSaleGlobal.com’s Pam MacPhee.
Before starting the website, MacPhee and her husband, Warren, owned and operated the Cora breakfast and lunch restaurant franchise at Kelowna, B.C.’s Orchard Park mall.
Besides R Beach, some of the other restos for sale on the site include: • Legends — This 3,500-square-foot watering hole with patio is the only sports pub on Aruba, the southern Caribbean island famous for its flamingo-andpalm-studded beaches.
It’s located one block off the island’s main oceanfront hotel strip, putting thousands of hungry and thirsty tourists within short walking distance.
The turnkey business is listed for sale for US$450,000 and the premise rents for US$6,857 a month.
• Santino’s Pizza & More — This Italian place is named after Santino Pazziano, the owneroperator who wants to retire.
“Oh yes, the buyer will probably be from up north, someone who wants to come down here and enjoy the beach and island lifestyle,” said Pazziano.
After all, Santino’s is in Surf City on Topsail Island, the 26mile-long barrier reef patch of beach dunes and thick marine forest separated from the North Carolina mainland by a series of small sounds and channels that make up a stretch of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.
Lore has it the pirate Blackbeard hid treasure on Topsail and the island got its name because pirates hid in the channel awaiting merchant ships to loot.
Merchant ships got wise, kept a look out for the topsail of pirate ships and avoided the channel when they spied it.
Santino’s is listed for sale for US$350,000 and the monthly rent on the restaurant is US$3,859.
• Cleveland, Texas — This unnamed retreat an hour drive north of Houston includes 4.6 acres of land and lakeside restaurant.
Besides catering to the public, it’s a corporate and conference venue and wedding destination.
The land and business is listed for sale for US$1.125 million.
• St. Augustine, Florida — The owner of this confidentially-forsale restaurant in St. Augustine’s historic district also wants to retire, allowing someone else to work and live the dream.
It’s listed for US$399,000 and the monthly rent on the 1,50square-foot premises is $2,329.