I’m sure sorry to hear this. The River Station is closed… again. My wife and I had supper there several times since they’ve reopened and have really enjoyed it. The place was redecorated well, and the service (except for the last time we were there) has been very good as well. (The last time we were there, the service was unbelievably slow.)
On December 19, 2006, the council voted unanimously to give a $150,000 Business Development Fund loan “to The River Station Holdings, LLC to fund fixtures, equipment, and inventory for the restaurant.” They needed to pay that loan back, as well as pay their HRA taxes, of course. Well, they haven’t been doing either, according to the Journal Star, so their liquor license got revoked. Since you make way more money on liquor than on food, that pretty much guaranteed they would be closing.
The timing couldn’t be worse, coming right before the July 4 holiday, a time when they rake in a lot of cash by charging people to sit on the lawn to watch fireworks (you won’t find a better seat downtown). Now that’s canceled. But that’s what happens when you don’t pay your debts, I suppose.
I hope it reopens (again) under better management.
UPDATE: The Journal Star is now reporting that the River Station will be open for the fourth of July — they just won’t be serving alcohol. That’s good news for all the people who were planning on being there tomorrow for the fireworks! It should be noted that HOI News had the story right in the first place.
No booze?! Come on-I think a lot people paid thinking they would get food ANS drink. Today I was told by a city employee they haven’t paid their HRA tax since September of 2007. As sad as this may be, this is an example of poor business practice.
Left by Ian Schwartz on July 3rd, 2008