Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Restaurant set to close as chain eyes up venue
AN iconic Dundee restaurant is set to shut down — with a chain taking over the venue.
Papa Joe’s in Whitehall Street, which serves American Italian food, will close on Hogmanay, a spokesman for the restaurant has confirmed.
The Italian chain Tony Macaroni, which already has 11 other venues across Scotland, looks set to take over the unit.
Although Papa Joe’s owner Mark Crawford, whose grandfather started the business, has not yet revealed the reasons for the takeover, a spokesman for the restaurant confirmed it would be shutting down on December 31.
He told the Tele: “The plan is for us to be taken over by Tony Macaroni.
“The restaurant is currently busy consulting with staff about how the takeover would work best for everyone.
“The owner feels it’s very important to listen to what everyone thinks about the options on the table.
“When we close down there will be a period before the new place opens.
“It’s hard to tell how long and I don’t think there’s an exact date yet.
“We will need time to empty the restaurant, it will be maybe three months.”
Tony Macaroni is a relative newcomer to the restaurant scene, having opened its first venue in 2007.
It now has restaurants in locations including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dunfermline and St Andrews — but this would be its first venture in Dundee.
Papa Joe’s also runs a restaurant in Stirling.
When contacted, a member of staff there said there were no apparent plans to close that eatery.
The news came as a shock for city centre councillor Lynne Short.
She said: “That’s a big surprise to me, it’s always incredibly busy so I can’t think why they’re closing.
“They’re in such a prime position for the Waterfront and the site definitely lends itself to a good dining experience.
“It’s been there for about 15 years, so it is well-established, but things do change i n city centres.
“I’d be very interested to find out why they’ve decided to close.
“At the minute Whitehall Street is a corridor of restaurants and buses — so it’s good to hear that a new restaurant is looking to fill the gap.”
The Tele approached Tony Macaroni for comment, but the company had not responded at the time of going to press.