INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Feb. 7, 2014) A local restaurant with decades of history on the northeast side of Indianapolis is closing its doors and moving in the wake of a major construction project that kicked off this week.

Murphys Steakhouse, open since 1977 in a building that has served food to the community since 1958, will close its North Keystone Avenue doors after dinner service on Valentines Day.

The City of Indianapolis said the project to reconstruct the Fall Creek bridge will restrict traffic through mid-November and not be completed until summer 2015.

Murphys Steakhouse owner Craig Stonebraker said thats too much for the restaurant to bear, forcing him to merge with another local spot. Pat Flynns, about one mile north on Allisonville Road, will close for three days, renovate and reopen as a new version of Murphys.

I was 25 when I bought this restaurant, so I have a love affair with this building, this neighborhood and this restaurant. [I]ts gut-wrenching to move, Stonebraker said.

But if were going to survive and our staff, particularly our servers, are going to continue to make a living, we have to move.

City of Indianapolis public information officer Kelly Janssen said the city had no choice but to take on the project.

Every two years, federal guidelines require us to inspect the bridge, Janssen said. This time, when we inspected the bridge, we found that the structural integrity of the bridge had been compromised, therefore requiring us to do reconstruction.

In consideration for its troubles, the citys contractor is paying Murphys to rent its parking lot to store its equipment during the construction project.

Stonebraker is trying to stay optimistic, while keeping well aware of the history from which hes being forced to walk away.

More here:
Fall Creek bridge project forces local landmark to close, move

Lamparelli Constr Co Inc Cheektowaga NY US
Contractors, Commercial, industrial, design build, restaurant construction, housing projects, medical facilities, office buildings, nursing homes, retail fac...

By: LocalEdge VideosTwo

Excerpt from:
Lamparelli Constr Co Inc Cheektowaga NY US - Video

Tribune photo by Garrett Valenzuela -- Nugget President and CEO Carlton Geer, middle, speaks to Sparks City Councilwoman Julia Ratti on Monday at an event celebrating the final week of Trader Dick's restaurant.

Tribune photo by Garrett Valenzuela -- Two locals discuss the layout of Gilley's Saloon, Dance Hall and Bar-B-Que which will take the place of Trader Dick's restaurant inside the Nugget in Sparks.

Nugget executives, City of Sparks officials and many others mingled inside the Polynesian paradise-themed restaurant Monday evening, paying their respects and helping usher the business out on a high note. The restaurant and bar opened on B Street in 1958 before moving inside the Nugget in 1973, and it will celebrate its final week in business with discount food and drink specials.

Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said he was sad to see Trader Dicks close its doors after so many wonderful memories.

I remember going to Trader Dicks when it was across the street many, many years ago, Martini said Monday. I had dates I brought here, family dinners, birthdays, wedding anniversaries and all kinds of memories here. Its been a wonderful place and I really enjoyed Trader Dicks. It holds a special place in my heart. It is sad in one respect to see it go, but its exciting to see something new come.

Nugget President and CEO Carlton Geer said he too was sad to see Trader Dick's go having brought dates to the restaurant in the early 1980s before he was married. Despite the sorrow present for the restaurants final week, Geer said looking ahead gives locals reason to be excited.

People have to look toward not just what we are losing, but what the community is gaining, Geer said, "And Gilleys is a huge asset, I believe, to the community.

Gilleys Saloon, Dance Hall and Bar-B-Que will be created behind the construction walls in the 10,000 square-foot space where Trader Dick's currently sits. Geer said the country western vibe of Gilleys will offer existing customers an exciting atmosphere while enticing others to choose the Nugget for entertainment.

We want to be the Sparks hometown hangout, but we also want to appeal to out-of-town guests and those who are visiting other hotels, Geer said. I think Gilleys is an important cornerstone along with the other renovations and amenities we are adding to the property.

The renovations slated for the Nugget range nearly property wide and include more than 100,000 square feet of carpet replacement, a new sportsbook and sports bar, a new bingo parlor, a new gift shop and ceiling improvements. The renovations were announced following the property changing hands and Geer said the nearly $50 million investments will breathe new life into downtown Sparks.

Read more:
Nugget, city say goodbye to Trader Dick's

It was debated, fought and criticized by many area residents, but a new Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers restaurant finally will open in Jacksonvilles Avondale neighborhood Monday.

After demolishing a former gas station building and fending off angry community activists for months, owners of the Mellow Mushroom pizza shop chain finally have finished construction of the new restaurant at 3611 St. Johns Ave. The eatery is among several others in the Shoppes of Avondale stretch of St. Johns Avenue.

We are thrilled to bring Mellow Mushroom to Avondale, said Mellow Mushroom owner John Valentino in a news release Wednesday. This is an ideal setting for our guests.

While Valentino sees the new restaurant site as ideal, many living near the area have not.

Multiple appeals challenging the Mellow Mushroom construction were filed with the city by citizen groups We Love Avondale, Riverside Avondale Preservation, and three property owners near the Shoppes. All argued the Mellow Mushroom didnt meet its parking obligations.

In most of Jacksonville, a restaurant must provide one parking space for every four seats, plus one space for each employee. Mellow Mushroom would have 198 seats and 14 employes, so the standard regulation would require 57 spaces. But in Riverside-Avondale that obligation is half, so its required to provide only 28 spaces.

The citys planning department determined Mellow Mushroom has vested rights to seven parking spaces from businesses that previously occupied the buildings it will use. That means the restaurant must provide 21 other spaces, which Mellow Mushroom says it would with the new parking lot.

Their cookie-cutter model is not going to work in a neighborhood like ours, Carmen Godwin, executive director of Riverside Avondale Preservation, said in an October Times-Union report on the controversy.

Mellow Mushroom officials say theyve been able to incorporate the Avondale artsy feel by using woods in most of the dcor along with brick and contemporary jazz-inspired art. There also will be a retired fire truck parked on the side of the building.

The Mellow Mushroom in Avondale will be open seven days a week.

Follow this link:
Mellow Mushroom to sprout in Avondale, despite opposition

The original Brennan's restaurant in the French Quarter has become a major construction site in recent months. A mishap Tuesday had a portion of the old building crumbling.

Construction crews went back to work Wednesday at the Royal Street restaurant after a ceiling collapsed Tuesday.

A major renovation has been going on here for about four months. It includes a combination of electrical and plumbing updates to a complete style revamp.

Wednesday traffic was blocked on the street while cement trucks were brought in to do more work. Greg Beureman, a spokesperson for the property, said around 3 p.m. Tuesday one of the columns that supports the second floor collapsed. A portion of the second floor came crumbling down into the first floor.

No workers were injured in the process.

Structural engineers were on site Tuesday evening and Wednesday to determine what happened and why, but right now there is no clear indication about what caused the collapse.

Although Beureman said the property dates back to the late 1700s, and these are things that tend to happen in old buildings.

There is no indication about how this will impact the construction and renovation process, since Beureman said the owners do not have a hard opening date.

The spokesperson said owner Ralph Brennan is putting his own mark on the property. He said it will not be a carbon copy of anything that has been at the site before. It will have a new concept and a new name.

See original here:
Historic Brennan's restaurant suffers ceiling collapse

Crews will break ground later this week to begin the construction of Pasghettis, an Italian restaurant set to open in September next to the Starlite Theatre on 76 County Boulevard.

Nolan Fogle, who owns several other restaurants in Branson, said the idea was spawned between him and his family.

We just all kind of started bouncing ideas off of each other, just like we did with the (Great American Steak &) Chicken House, Fogle said. Theres really not anything like it in the world with the way things will be on the inside and the outside.

Fogle said ground will be broken this week for the $4 million project. The 15,000-square-foot, two-story restaurant features unique designs inside and out, Fogle said.

A 15-foot tall meatball with a 50-foot fork sticking out of the top will sit in front of the building. Noodles will also be scattered in front of the building for children to play on, Fogle said.

Weve been working very closely with the promenade people, the people with the revival project for (76 Country Boulevard), he said. (They) have been incredible to work with from the perspective of being able to tie this in with what theyre doing along (76 Country Boulevard) and make it all kind of come together.

All the ideas we have for this restaurant and the ideas and vision they have for (76 Country Boulevard), I think were going to fit in just perfect.

In the spirit of collaborating with businesses owners in the revitalization of 76 Country Boulevard, the city of Branson has agreed to weave the sidewalk through the giant meatball, Fogle said.

The inside will feature two different themes, Fogle said. The top level will be a quiet, more romantic setting with the feeling of roof-top dining, he said. The lower level, more of a family setting, will feature scenes from the 1920s.

When you go inside, its going to be kind of like youre walking down a little Italian street in the 1920s, Fogle said. Itll be a combination a little of New York, a little San Francisco, and a little Chicago in the 1920s.

Read the original:
Breaking ground for new business

Bruno Mars album sales skyrocket post Super Bowl Bruno Mars album sales skyrocket post Super Bowl

Updated: Tuesday, February 4 2014 7:00 PM EST2014-02-05 00:00:22 GMT

Updated: Tuesday, February 4 2014 6:59 PM EST2014-02-04 23:59:07 GMT

Updated: Tuesday, February 4 2014 6:22 PM EST2014-02-04 23:22:18 GMT

Updated: Tuesday, February 4 2014 6:20 PM EST2014-02-04 23:20:12 GMT

Taylor Mill will have three Cincinnati restaurant icons under one roof: Skyline Chili, LaRosa's Pizzeria and Graeter's ice cream.

Gary Holland, a principal of the Holland Rosen Group, announced Monday that Graeter's signed a lease for 2,100-square-feet on the first floor of a three-story building. The restaurants will be part of the Districts of Taylor Mill, a multimillion-dollar commercial development at the city's northern edge.

"We now have the final jewel in the Triple Crown of Cincinnati favorites," Holland said.

Officials broke ground on the project in Sept. 2013. HGC Construction of Cincinnati began digging the foundation for the mixed-use building last week.

The Taylor Mill Graeter's will be the third Northern Kentucky location and its 17th in Greater Cincinnati, according to the company's website.

Link:
Cincinnati restaurant icons headed to Taylor Mill

The last 10 years for Tom Beaman have been tough. He owns California Rollin, a sushi restaurant at the Port of Rochester.

Beaman said his business has been hit with another hurdle. Construction has started on the Marina Project, causing Beaman and his customers a lot of concern.

"We've been getting a lot of emails about the front door being locked and no signage about the door. For the last 10 years customers have been acclimated to getting in one way. Now customers have to find another entrance in the building," said Beaman.

Construction started in November of 2013. The first phase is expected to be complete by spring of 2015. It includes a deep-draft marina that will accommodate 85 boat slips.

The project is scary. Any time you bring construction to a place, it hurts business, said Beaman.

The construction has already affected another restaurant at the Port of Rochester. Pier 45 will not open this summer and will not renew its lease with the city.

Beaman said California Rollin is staying put, hoping the end result will be well worth the trouble.

The numbers are down and hopefully the community will support us through the tough times again, continued Beaman.

The tough times could last longer than expected. The Marina Project is a month behind schedule.

"They're a little behind because of the weather, but they're hoping they'll catch up, said Mark Gregor. Gregor oversees the Marina Project for the city.

Continue reading here:
Construction Affects Port of Rochester Businesses

Pier 45 at the Port of Rochester will not re-open, and the city instead will cancel the lease for the club and restaurant early.

From the beginning, the upscale city-backed restaurant was meant to be an experiment of sorts, to determine whether a restaurant was viable, build a market and possibly sell the business to a private enterprise.

I just felt with the construction happening down there and everything else, that it was just too much to take on, said Joe Floreano, executive director for the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, which the city hired to operate the restaurant.

The city broke ground in November on the first phase of construction, which will create an 85-slip deep-draft marina basin just west of the Terminal Building. The marina should open in 2015. As that is wrapping up, work could be getting underway on the first development parcel along Lake Avenue high-density, preferably owner-occupied housing, possibly a hotel and a mix of retail and office space.

Public investment, to be a mix of federal, state and city funds, is set at $20 million. Private investment should drive the project going forward, with a possible marina expansion to 157 slips and a total construction filling out what today is an expansive parking lot with between 280 and 430 housing units.

During the construction, lunch no longer made sense: The main customers were seniors who would have too far to walk. There would no longer be valet parking. Floreano also cited increased competition from Crescent Beach and restaurants at The Mall at Greece Ridge.

We cant handle the construction. We cant control the weather and, when everything is said and done, it was a weather-related restaurant, he said. But can a restaurant work? He said yes. I think it could, and maybe our concept wasnt right. Somebody else might have a better idea.

The city-owned terminal runs an annual deficit of more than $370,000. That does not include the nearly $80,000 loss anticipated this budget year at Pier 45.

(Page 2 of 2)

Other leases at the building are not affected, according to the city, with California Rollin expected to remain open all winter and others to open in the spring. The first report on Pier 45s closing came from WHAM (Channel 13), which also stated that other leases were not being renewed.

The rest is here:
City pulls the plug on Pier 45

Updated: Thursday, January 30 2014, 07:08 PM EST

byPatrice Walsh

Rochester, N.Y. -- Its a popular place in the summer time, but Pier 45 served its final meal in September.

The operator of the restaurant in the Ferry Terminal said he has ended his contract with the city and will no longer run the restaurant.

Joe Floreano is Executive Director of the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Floreano said he has enjoyed running the restaurant for the past five years but said it became too challenging to keep it going.

He said construction of the 17 million dollar marina project, closed the front entrance to the ferry terminal and took away valet parking for the restaurant. He said this makes it hard for customers to find their way into the restaurant. He also said competition from other restaurants was just too difficult. That marina project is in its first phase. It includes not only a public marina, but also a promenade, and eventually condominiums, restaurants and possibly a hotel. The first 85 marina slips are expected to open next spring.

Floreano told 13 WHAM News: It just wasnt worthwhile to open it for the season.

Floreano said he is proud of the restaurant, which has won many top honors, and will miss interacting with customers there, but will focus on running the Convention Center. He doesnt know what will happen with the ferry terminal or if the city will bring in someone else to operate the restaurant.

This isnt the only big change at the Port of Rochester. Other businesses at the port said they have heard their leases will not be renewed.

Tom Beaman said he is looking at other options and may re-locate his California Rollin sushi restaurant. It is one of the original businesses in the terminal and has survived many ups and downs over the years. Beaman could have bailed when the ferry sailed out of Rochester, but he said devoted customers kept him in business. He also held sushi classes to help pay his rent when business was down.

Read the original:
Pier 45 restaurant will not open for the season