Stir Crazy closes Boca eatery in lease dispute
Stir Crazy has stopped serving customers in Boca Raton.
The restaurant closed for good Monday after 15 years at Town Center at Boca Raton, citing legal issues with the operator of Town Center mall, Simon.
The lease-related dispute has been going for one to two years, said Stir Crazy’s spokesman, David Ayers. Simon declined to comment.
“It’s unfortunate it’s come to this type of situation,” Ayers said.
Unaware of the situation, Juliana Santos walked up to the restaurant Tuesday and more than once tried pulling the doors’ red handles to go inside. It didn’t work. She then noticed a sign posted on the glass doors that read: “As of March 29th Stir Crazy is officially closed. Thank you all very much for your support over the years.”
Santos, who lives in Deerfield Beach, said she had been a regular at Stir Crazy in the past 10 years because she liked the freshness of their food. The 33-year-old had planned to treat her friend Rubia to lunch there while she visits from Brazil.
“I had no idea thiswas going on,” Santos said, a few feet away fromthe locked doors.
According to documents filed this month in Palm Beach County court, a judge ruled that Stir Crazy must vacate its space at the 6000 Glades Road mall.
Stir Crazy still wants to do business in the area. The company spokesman said they are looking into moving elsewhere in southeast Florida, encouraged by the support they have received from customers. It also provided jobs to about 60 people in Boca Raton, Ayers said.
Stir Crazy has been around since 1995, serving Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese food. It has six other restaurants throughout the country, in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and in Estero, Fla.
On Tuesday, stacks of mediumsized heavy duty moving boxes were piled up on top of one another inside the restaurant.
Disappointed by the closure and still hungry, Santos offered her friend an alternative.
“May be we can go to Cheesecake,” she told Rubia.