We've seen plenty of restaurants close for summer vacation, but when a place shuts down for the entire summer, it's usually bad news.
That's what's happening at the 90-year-old Palm Beach institution Testa's. The restaurant announced Wednesday that it would be stopping all operations for the rest of the summer. President Tom Testa says the eatery will reopen in November.
Testa's debuted on Palm Beach in 1921. Throughout most of it's history
the restaurant was seasonal. In 1990 it began staying open year round.
It's unclear now whether or not Testa's will return to its seasonal
format. CEO Tom Testa said, " [It's] something we will have to evaluate
during the coming winter. And we will also have to gauge whether we
think there is anything that will change the current summer economy in
Palm Beach and the business climate in Palm Beach in general."
The news comes only a month after former Vice President of the company Mike Testa III died
at his home in Bal Harbor, Maine. Testa's grandfather Michele opened
the restaurant -- now one of the oldest in the country -- after
starting with a simple soda shop.
Just to put the length of its tenure in perspective, Testa's has been
through the Great Depression, seen 17 Presidents in office, and has
survived over two dozen hurricanes to hit Florida. At nearly a century
old, it would be a big loss to the history and culture of Palm Beach if
Testa's weren't to reopen. Rumors are circulating that the November date is anything but certain.
Most recently, we named Testa's the Best Restaurant to Cure a Hangover in
2009. Part of that is thanks to the fact its starts serving liquor at 7
a.m.
Guess we'll need to get our hair of the dog elsewhere this summer.
