Tumbleweed on waterfront closing bash Saturday
When Tumbleweed Tex Mex Grill & Margarita Bar closes Saturday on the Ohio River, $1.99 margaritas, a fountain that pumps warm Chile Con Queso, and tastings of tequila commemorate the chain's last day at Waterfront Park.
The end of Tumbleweed's nearly decade-long run on the water leaves the Tex Mex chain free to focus on growing business at 13 other regional restaurants, Tumbleweed CEO Matt Higgins said. Unlike its isolated and unprofitable outpost on the water, most other Tumbleweeds draw diners from bustling local retail hubs like its Outer Loop store near Jefferson Mall, he added.
"We are about to get the 200-pound monkey off our back," Higgins said of the Waterfront location at which he said the chain lost $1.8 million in recent years.
Regular hours at Waterfront Park apply on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. when customers visiting their old river haunt for the last time can get coupons for other Tumbleweed locations. Saturday's "Hasta La Vista" event also includes a disc jockey playing top 40 pop tunes from 2005, when the park restaurant opened.
Tumbleweed has struggled to gross its goal of between $13 to $15 per guest check at Waterfront Park and make lease payments to a private consortium of landlords since 2009, Higgins said. That's when Higgins said he and his brother Mike purchased the chain out of bankruptcy, with the unwieldy real estate arrangement on the river.
"We inherited this lease," Matt Higgins said. "The worst day of that deal was the day it was signed. I would never have done that deal."
The Waterfront Development Corp.'s board of 15 members has authorized a subcommittee of four members to review proposals for the next restaurant to occupy the space, said David Karem, president and executive director of the public agency. Members of the restaurant subcommittee, he said, are board chairman Matt Thornton, Scott Brinkman, Carter Vance, and Christopher Jones.
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A new restaurant lease has not been finalized, Karem said, as he declined to identify parties in talks with the board, which meets next on Dec. 3. The waterfront group's subcommittee wields substantial power to negotiate a new restaurant tenant for the privately owned building on public land at 1201 River Road.
"It is likely the board would simply empower that committee to make such a decision," Karem said, adding the building's private landlord, Waterweed LLC, is known to be actively cultivating potential tenants. "It could be so many different things and be successful. I don't think anybody here has a preconceived notion of what it has to be."
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"We have no idea what restaurant will be moving into that space," Karem said. "We understand, though, that Waterweed is talking to some people with a lot of experience with restauranteurs. We are encouraged."
Tumbleweed's 10-year lease at Waterfront Park was set to expire in July. As the result of a longstanding rent dispute, landlords Waterweed LLC and CJ Austin LLC petitioned District Court in Jefferson County in August to begin eviction proceedings. Last month, the chain agreed to depart the premises before the expiration of its lease at the landlords' request.
Greg Berman, lawyer for Waterweed and CJ Austin LLC, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
Tumbleweed has 24 locations in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, Matt Higgins said, adding the chain is focusing on cultivating its Tex Mex menu focused on mesquite-fired grilling of steak and ribs, along with seafood, fajitas, nachos, guacamole prepared at tableside and chips and salsa.
Competitors to Tumbleweed include El Nopal, Texas Roadhouse, Applebees and other casual dining outlets, he added.
"We are one of the unique ones, so we like to be by other restaurants," he said of other Tumbleweed locations, like those in Charlestown near the Charlestown Crossing shopping complex and in Valley Station near retailers like Walmart and Meijer.
The Waterfront Park location "was a lone outpost," he added. "That is just not our model."
Jere Downs can be reached at (502) 582-4669, Jere Downs on Facebook and @Jeredowns on Twitter.