Rocco’s at The Brick in Newtown was forced to close last weekend due to a landlord dispute that stemmed from a change to the restaurant’s liquor license, writes Michael Klein for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
According to the owner, the closure, which abruptly left around 50 employees out of work, was not the restaurant’s decision.
The landlord, Verindar Kaur, who also controls the liquor license, filed a change with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board last week to remove Rocco’s LLC from its liquor license, said David Gelman, son of Rocco’s owner Marc Gelman.
The ability to sell alcohol was part of the business’ operating agreement, with Gelman paying Kaur a fixed monthly fee and a percentage of proceeds on top of rent, which he described as “Center City-level.”
“This is not something we wanted to do,” said Gelman. “But we can’t operate without the liquor license [per the agreement]. There was no way to rectify the situation.”
The popular eatery’s last night was Saturday.
The owner now intends to file a lawsuit seeking damages for breach of the lease and the management agreement.
Read more about Rocco’s at The Brick in Newtown and the dispute regarding the restaurant’s liquor license in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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