lost their Lease?
 

The Villages boogeyman strikes again (latest conspiracy theory). Rumors abound. Where is Paul Harvey when we need "The Rest of he Story"?

Sounds like there night have been a clause in the lease agreement somewhere that gave the lessor/owner the ability to cancel the lease based on certain conditions. Or maybe they made it worthwhile for the lessee to close up and vacate........???

Bill :)

Who dunnit?
 

There are 80,000 stories in The Villages....this is one. Who killed El Santiago. The usual suspects were rounded up and grilled by burly, cigar chomping gumshoes with a hint of cheap bourbon on their breath. As the twisted tale of mystery unraveled....the truth slowly revealed itself.

Col. Mustard, a friend of the lessor, had an airtight alibi, he was moose hunting in Montana. Miss Scarlett, an aspiring but not very talented actress who hustles drinks and old geezers on Friday nights at Katie Belle's, was in Poughkeepsie sleeping with Professor Plum, a Professor of Taxidermy from Texas, when the dastardly deed was done. Mrs. Peacock, Scarlett's mother, and Mrs. White, the cook at El Santiago, were in a pickle ball tournament in Oklawaha when the crime occurred. It was determined that Mr. Green, aka Fumar, at the time of the heist, was still recuperating from his golf car collision with a Sumter County police car while Rocky and the Rollers were performing the Beach Boys "409". The police report says Fumar.....ah..... Green was singing loudly, "Nothing can catch her...Nothing can touch my 409....409, 409, 409, 409...Giddy up 409" just before the crash.

That leaves just one of the usual suspects............It had to be the developer...... in the conservatory.....with the candlestick....a lawyer and a check book.

Yes.....yes.....the developer did it. It's always the developer.

We're going to miss El Santiago for all the reasons already expressed. Our first lunch in the Villages with friends was there. Many more followed.

The drama continues -----
 

VERY FUNNY

Anyway, whoever "done it" has caused some hard feelings. Hubby and I went there today for lunch and he ordered (from the menu) Pot Roast Slider. The waitress (quite testily) said, "We don't have that and we've NEVER had that!" so he ordered another selection. I ordered the Cold Lobster Salad Slider. She came out of the kitchen and said, "We don't have the lobster"! I wrinkled my nose in frustration as that is why we went there for lunch and she walked away saying, "It don't matter cause tomorrow is the last day." I had to call her back to the table to change my order. Her attitude did improve by the time we left! Hope THAT is not the reason they are closng!

Back in January we went there for dinner and were so surprised to hear the waitress say they didn't have any lettuce for our salad. It struck us as highly unusual and my wife even commented "wonder if they're in trouble?". Might very well have been the case. We also noticed the owner was a lot more interested in singing karoke than tending to his business.

I'm sitting in an airport club with a flight delay LOL. This is hilarious. Reduced the stress of the day!

Great post. :clap2:

Hilarious. :1rotfl: When is the book coming out?

El Santiago
 

What a shame. We have always have good dinners and the service is excellent. It's terrible that TV is taking back the lease and putting all those people out of work so they can turn the place into a rec center. We have had many pleasant evenings going there as a group. Brian, the chef, is excellent and many a times he prepared special bufett dinners for a group of us and a large group of neighbors. El Santiago is one of the places with good food and service. If another rec center is needed, I'm sure TV can find a place instead of closing the restaurant and making all those employees lose their jobs. No, there is nothing wrong (health wise) with owners. Is The Villages who's putting them out of business.

I talked to the owner some time ago and complimented him on his place. He said that he would have liked to have a sign on Enrique to help people find the place especially at night, but The Villages wanted $6000.00 in exchange for that right. I jokingly suggested that he could hire someone to hold a sign for years and still come out ahead.

Was always amazed at how few customers were there when we stopped for lunch or dinner.

With fewer and fewer customers I was surprised it lasted as long as it did. I suspect being behind on lease and utilities payments with decreasing revenues resulted in the closure, similar to Bourbon Street in Spanish Springs.

Too bad, enjoyed El Santiago.

I resemble that insinuation............:girlneener:

Bye friends
 

Billy and Mel were the nicest people. They appreciated their customers and treated their employees like family. It showed! Cara and Barb and the rest of the crew over the years really worked hard to please their customers. Chef Brian Webster was very creative too. We always enjoyed his signature "Grouper Fingers".

I don't blame Billy and Mel for not renewing their lease under the new terms they were forced to accept. It's the developer's greed thing again. They'll be going back to Rochester, England because their US Business VISAs will now be revoked.

We had to be there tonight. They will all be missed. :cry:

Skip

Certainly will miss El Santiago but couldn't they reopen in another location? Might take some time to recreate the ambience but it could be done.

El Santiago
 

Does anyone really know the straight stuff about this closing?. The anecdotes and innuendo posted here just feel like there is a missing piece. The Developer would not gererally kick out good tenant unless the value of the property was higher than the rent being paid. I suspect that the business was marginally profitable and probably unable to maintain a reasonable margin with all the competition in and around "the bubble". How about some facts-if anyone really knows them.

Never try to confuse a good thread like this with facts. What would we do for fun?