Two longtime Mizner eateries close, while a new café shuts after a month
BOCA RATON — Two longtime restaurants at Boca Raton’s Mizner Park closed in the past months while another downtown restaurant shut down after a brief onemonth run.
Truluck’s seafood and steak restaurant, an 11-year tenant at Mizner Park, announced its April 30 closing on Facebook, citing lease negotiation issues. MoBu Fusion Café, on Federal Highway south of Camino Real, was open only a month before also announcing its closing on social media.
MoBu said “unforeseen circumstances” led to its May 5 shutdown at the Federal Highway plaza, just blocks from Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place.
MoBu owners said they’re looking for a new location or different eatery concept that includes live entertainment.
Uncle Julio’s Mexican restaurant, at the northeast corner of Mizner Park, discreetly closed in March. The 10-year tenant, part of a national chain, placed a sign on the door, announcing its closure.
Mizner Park’s landlord, real estate company GGP, declined to comment on the lease negotiation that led to losing longtime tenant Truluck’s.
“Despite repeated efforts to negotiate a renewed lease agreement, we regretfully announce the closing of our Boca Raton location,” Truluck’s wrote on its Facebook page.
Mizner is in the midst of “very interesting negotiations and deal-making” to fill the closed storefronts, said general manager Dana Romanelli Schearer.
“We’re disappointed to see any restaurants leave the property, but we’re excited to see interest from new brands,” Romanelli Schearer said.
Word is GGP plans to bring a bowling alley to Uncle Julio’s old space, a move in line with the trend by other shopping centers seeking more entertainment choices for their customers, The Palm Beach Post reported.
Romanelli Schearer declined to comment on that.
Meanwhile, mall operator GGP, or General Growth Properties, changed hands in March, which may have contributed to leasing changes at Mizner Park. Brookfield Property Partners struck a deal to buy GGP for $9.25 billion in cash.
Brookfield already owned about one-third of GGP, one of the largest mall owners in the country behind Simon Property Group, which owns Town Center at Boca Raton.