Recent closings

[wingnuts]

Martelli's, formerly Christmas Island, closed after MC Week. Before that the former Oriental Gardens closed. Both appear to up for lease. Anyone out there know what's going on with these establishments?

[winniwannabe]

Just a wild guess... not enough help or volume to sustain a living.

[joey2665]

Christmas Island is a tough one. Used to be a great location with lake views before they built the condos now there’s no view and the outside really needs some TLC.

Faro is the Weirs has had improvements going on for almost a year and still no idea when or what exactly it will be.


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[TiltonBB]

Oriental Gardens, formerly China Bistro, was in decline for years. Based upon the activity at the property for the last several years I am surprised they lasted as long as they did. I got takeout there about 12 years ago and never went back.

They used to have a night club there with music and dancing. That went away about 10 years ago but it may have kept the business around longer than just the restaurant would have.

[BroadHopper]

Originally Posted by joey2665

Christmas Island is a tough one. Used to be a great location with lake views before they built the condos now there’s no view and the outside really needs some TLC.

Faro is the Weirs has had improvements going on for almost a year and still no idea when or what exactly it will be.

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Christmas Island also lost a lot of parking! I'm sure the condo association are quietly telling them to close up shop so they can take over! Oh the greedy developers are sharp!

[garysanfran]

I guess the crab rangoon at China Bistro turned out to not be the "best in the country"!

[Winnigirl83]

Martelli’s closed before MC week. I believe it was back in April. Not sure why they closed, but they seemed to be struggling for a while.

The property where China Bistro is was purchased by the same folks that bought the lower floor of (what I believe is called) Paugus Plaza. Where Myrna’s Classic Cuisine is. I do believe the owners of China Bistro had been trying to sell for a while. I hope they enjoy their retirement and another restaurant opens in this location.

[thinkxingu]

I can understand Martelli's closing—we, as I'm sure others, were scared away by the pricing.

Christmas Island has been super polar since we've been summering at the lake—I had one of the best AND one of the worst prime ribs ever there.

Dewey's Ice Cream seems to be done.

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[boat_guy64]

Martelli's was bad. My friends that went and myself never went back. The Chinese place was really bad. No one was ever there. Food was bad and the drinks were bad.

Luckily, we've had some new recent openings that are wonderful.

[garysanfran]

My father used to wonder, now I do the same...

How many of these places were just laundering money?

There was one pizza place in Meredith for years, I never saw one customer and only heard of a couple of people who dared to try it once.

I'd love to see a P&L from their operations.

[swnoel]

As the economy sinks further into the abyss it will get worse... I wouldn't be surprised to see 50% of the restaurants close.

[Susie Cougar]

Originally Posted by garysanfran

My father used to wonder, now I do the same...

How many of these places were just laundering money?

There was one pizza place in Meredith for years, I never saw one customer and only heard of a couple of people who dared to try it once.

I'd love to see a P&L from their operations.

My biggest question was always about the Kona Mansion Inn.

Back in the early 1960s, that was quite the place. It was perched on the hill and when you came around the corner by 40 acre field there it was, in all its glory. It was always breathtaking to drive by it, especially when it was all lit up at night time. But the owners immediately planted so many trees in front to block the view. After a few years, you couldn’t even see it anymore. I don’t think they updated that place since they bought it. I always thought it was tax laundering going on.

[Descant]

I seem to recall comments a while back in another thread about how hard it was to start a new "legitimate" business because you couldn't compete with retirees who ran a shop just for something to do, no need for profit.

[WinnisquamZ]

Originally Posted by Descant

I seem to recall comments a while back in another thread about how hard it was to start a new "legitimate" business because you couldn't compete with retirees who ran a shop just for something to do, no need for profit.

Been on both sides in earlier times. It’s has always been difficult to start a business and should remain that way. The issues I see are if your business plan requires you to hire employees in the lakes region it’s a bad business plan. Unemployment is this area is zero! Also, business lease costs are on the rise. Payroll and rent have always been the top two costs associated with operating a business. In this climate you need to be the head chef and dishwasher. Also, own the building you are working out of. Then you may have a chance


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[garysanfran]

Originally Posted by Susie Cougar

My biggest question was always about the Kona Mansion Inn.

Back in the early 1960s, that was quite the place. It was perched on the hill and when you came around the corner by 40 acre field there it was, in all its glory. It was always breathtaking to drive by it, especially when it was all lit up at night time. But the owners immediately planted so many trees in front to block the view. After a few years, you couldn’t even see it anymore. I don’t think they updated that place since they bought it. I always thought it was tax laundering going on.

Remember The Shangri-La?

Had a "bad" reputation, operated for years and of course burned down.

[Susie Cougar]

Originally Posted by garysanfran

Remember The Shangri-La?

Had a "bad" reputation, operated for years and of course burned down.

Yes!

I was married there in 1972, after it became the Brickyard Mountain Inn. Several years later, my friend was married there and they had closed off all the beautiful windows that overlooked the grounds.

[webmaster]

Originally Posted by Susie Cougar

My biggest question was always about the Kona Mansion Inn.

Back in the early 1960s, that was quite the place. It was perched on the hill and when you came around the corner by 40 acre field there it was, in all its glory. It was always breathtaking to drive by it, especially when it was all lit up at night time. But the owners immediately planted so many trees in front to block the view. After a few years, you couldn’t even see it anymore. I don’t think they updated that place since they bought it. I always thought it was tax laundering going on.

Here's a shot of it I took back in 1995:

[Susie Cougar]

Thanks, Don.

I could never understand why they planted all those trees. It was like they just didn’t want you to know they were there. What made them special was taken away.

[The Real BigGuy]

Didn’t the Kona get put up for sale several years ago as separate parts? The boat house, the main building, etc.


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[TiltonBB]

The Village at Paugus Bay has new owners, Neil and Elisa Silver.

The Silvers also bought the China Bistro property next door. They have an agreement with Hilton to put a four story hotel behind the existing bistro, which they plan to gut and turn into an event or conference center.

They also want to build 70 to 100 apartments on the property.

https://www.laconiadailysun.com/news...c1e3f1a95.html

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

The Village at Paugus Bay has new owners, Neil and Elisa Silver.

The Silvers also bought the China Bistro property next door. They have an agreement with Hilton to put a four story hotel behind the existing bistro, which they plan to gut and turn into an event or conference center.

They also want to build 70 to 100 apartments on the property.

https://www.laconiadailysun.com/news...c1e3f1a95.html

Reading the article, I saw no mention of Myrna's Classic Cuisine. Did they close? Move? Loved the Mussels in garlic sauce and the lobster ravioli. Their Manhattans were pretty good too.

Dave

[gillygirl]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

Reading the article, I saw no mention of Myrna's Classic Cuisine. Did they close? Move? Loved the Mussels in garlic sauce and the lobster ravioli. Their Manhattans were pretty good too.

Dave

No, family had dinner there last week.


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[garysanfran]

I, also, noticed the article made no mention of Myrna's.

So I went to their web site and it appears they are still in business. The article should have mentioned Myrna's as an existing long-term tenant. Their experience at that location would have been an interesting addition.

I wonder if Nadia is still involved with Myrna's? She owned Nadia's Italian Restaurant and then went to The Lobster Pound, disappeared for a while and surfaced at Myrna's.

https://myrnascc.com/

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by The Real BigGuy

Didn’t the Kona get put up for sale several years ago as separate parts? The boat house, the main building, etc.


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I do believe that some of the Property has been split up.... I am not exactly sure how..... The property itself is registered as a Historical Land Mark, which makes doing anything with it, difficult .....

In just doing some research what is known as the Kona Manssion, and the Kona Boat house was part of an even larger 2500 acre estate when it was originally built....

My findings also show that the Property is still for sale, as it appears all proposed development plans have seen road blocks...

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by garysanfran

I, also, noticed the article made no mention of Myrna's.

So I went to their web site and it appears they are still in business. The article should have mentioned Myrna's as an existing long-term tenant. Their experience at that location would have been an interesting addition.

I wonder if Nadia is still involved with Myrna's? She owned Nadia's Italian Restaurant and then went to The Lobster Pound, disappeared for a while and surfaced at Myrna's.

https://myrnascc.com/

Before I posted, I googled Myrna's and it said closed as in not within normal business hours. I went to the website and nothing about having to close. My wife and I used to go about once a month until COVID hit. When they opened up for dining in again, we went back over a couple of times and the food was still outstanding. I guess I'll have to make a trip over again one of these nights. Thanks GG and Garysf.

Dave

[Susie Cougar]

Yes the Kona Mansion Inn property was indeed 2600 acres. The story that I know is that it was shipped here from Europe by a wealthy businessman for his wife and it was built back piece by piece. They had quite the spread. I toured the property in the early 1960s when I was around 11 years old. I remember sitting inside the giant fireplace in the boathouse which had built-in seats on either side and having my picture taken with my sister.
They sold off most of the acreage, and what remained is the Kona Mansion itself along with the carriage house and the boathouse and several little rental cabins.
As far as I know, It has always been for sale.

[AC2717]

I Hope they are not putting in a 70-100 Unit apartment complex back there, that is insane

[Twinkeltoes19]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

I can understand Martelli's closing—we, as I'm sure others, were scared away by the pricing.

Christmas Island has been super polar since we've been summering at the lake—I had one of the best AND one of the worst prime ribs ever there.

Dewey's Ice Cream seems to be done.

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Dewey’s is open, cash only. Hard to get help so delayed opening.