Owners Timothy and Adriana McLarney (center) stand with their staff in front of Granger’s Grille
in Delray Beach. They hope to remain month-to-month after their lease ends Oct. 31.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Jane Smith
Granger’s Grille has been priced out of its 21-year spot on the corner of Northeast Second Street and Federal Highway in Delray Beach following a March sale.
“We would not have considered relocating if our rent was not tripled,” said owner Timothy McLarney.
McLarney has found a temporary place in Atlantic Plaza, whose owners are locked in a lawsuit with the city.
“It’s a stopgap measure,” he said. His current lease ends Oct. 31, but he is trying to remain on a month-to-month basis until a new tenant is found. Then he will reopen in the former Free House American Eatery & Pub location in Atlantic Plaza.
McLarney had tried to buy his present site. He had both the longtime restaurant and nearby single-family house appraised, with a value of $705,000. But the then-owner wanted $300,000 more and found a buyer willing to pay slightly more than $1 million.
The new owner wants McLarney to pay $12,000 monthly to rent both buildings — $4,000 for the 1,500-square-foot single-family home and $8,000 for the 960-square-foot restaurant.
Granger’s serves lunch and dinner daily and has nightly specials Tuesdays through Saturdays. The barbecue ribs often sell out, McLarney said.
Granger’s has 38 seats. The most expensive item is $22 for fried lobster on Fridays.
The grill serves food that diners can recognize and is comforting, said real estate broker Cecelia Boone.
“Something that does not have a quail egg on it,” she said.
McLarney started looking for a new space in May 2015. At one location, the restaurant owner was asking $600,000 plus extra for the liquor license. A place that once held a coffee shop on North Federal Highway didn’t have enough parking, and he would have needed to buy four in lieu spaces from the city, costing $100,000.
McLarney finds the rents on Atlantic Avenue prohibitive. Parking also is a problem for Granger’s. The salon owner in an adjacent strip shopping center often posts a sign, “No Granger’s parking.”
And yet another Delray Beach landmark, Doc’s All American at the corner of North Swinton and Atlantic Avenues, faces an uncertain future. The owner of Doc’s and the neighboring Dunkin’ Donuts parcel has the 0.77-acre property back on the market. The listing on Loopnet, a real estate website, does not have an asking price. A recent multimillion- dollar deal fell through.
Doc’s, which dates to 1951 when a Pennsylvania dentist opened the soft-serve ice cream spot, may be offered a smaller space in any new development that happens at that location, according to Boone, who has the listing. “It will be at least two years down the road,” she said.
Generations of Delray Beach residents stopped for a cone after school or a root beer float after a day at the beach at the walk-up ice cream and burger place, which takes cash only.
Comments