The owners of Phil’s Oyster Bar, brothers Jordan and Anthony Piazza, have reached an agreement with landlord Donnie Jarreau to lease the restaurant space in the Southdowns Village Shopping Center vacated earlier this year by Table Kitchen & Bar.
The agreement will give the Piazzas two establishments in the popular Perkins Road shopping center, as the former Table space is directly across the parking lot from Phil’s.
The Piazza brothers haven’t yet decided what kind of restaurant they want to develop, but Jordan Piazza says when the space became available earlier this year they decided to take advantage of the opportunity to lease it before someone else did.
“Strategically, we knew whoever comes would probably take some sales away from Phil’s,” Jordan Piazza says. “So in our mind we were like, if someone is going to take sales from Phil’s, let it be us.”
The brothers have three or four different concepts they’re considering at the moment and plan to take between six and nine months exploring those ideas before finalizing a plan for the 3,200-square-foot space.
“We don’t want to just open something that you can find anywhere else,” he says. “We want to do something different.”
Whatever concept the Piazzas decide on, they plan to completely renovate the space, which has been something of a revolving door for restaurants in recent years. Table Kitchen & Bar closed in February after less than two years in business. Its predecessors, Portico and Romacelli Bistro, each lasted about one year in business.
The last long-term tenant in the space, Enoteca Marcello’s Wine Bar and Café, was in operation for almost three years. Piazza says he doesn’t believe there’s an issue with the location, noting that Phil’s and other tenants in the center, such as The Bulldog, do very well.
“We believe in this location,” he says. “The shopping center is great. It just needs a new concept and something that will complement the rest of the tenants.”
—Stephanie Riegel
