City Pizza closing in CityPlace

Owner Frank Sen says rents grew too high; plans mid-October move to the Outlets on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.

Saying goodbye to a restaurant is tough, especially leaving behind diners who have become like family, said Frank Sen, owner of City Pizza in West Palm Beach’s CityPlace.

“There are so many memories here,” he said.

The 23-year-old restaurant will host its final customers at the end of October when its lease expires, Sen said. It is moving to Tanger Outlets Palm Beach.

He and his wife, Maribel, and 9-year-old son, Adem, attended a recent farewell dinner organized by customers, greeting each of them and listening to their stories.

“I was told two years ago the lease was up,” Sen said. “They gave us an extension then, but without a yearly lease. It’s been month-to-month.”

The proposed new rent with an annual contract was triple what he pays. 

And, he said, he’d have to change the restaurant to a more upscale concept that meets the landlord’s approval.

While he countered with a fair-market rent to bring his lease in line with downtown,  the Related Cos., which is handling the renovation of CityPlace, wouldn’t accept it, Sen said.

In an email sent in August by the landlord, he said, “They told me I had to leave — my lease is up October 31.

“They want higher-end restaurants. A more upscale clientele. I didn’t owe any money, had never been behind. I redecorated and updated it. They just don’t want this pizza place.”

Making way for Eataly?

City Pizza is among a select few original CityPlace tenants still in business.

Maribel recalls CityPlace at the beginning as a thriving bustling outdoor mall. “I’d pick up my kids from school, we’d come for a slice here, then go to a movie, then to Sloan’s for ice cream, and ride the trolley. It was a whole day out.”

With a plethora of new hotels, offices and apartments and fewer shops and smaller restaurants, it’s going to take years for the bustle to return, Sen said.

Also potentially looming is Eataly, the popular New York concept blending restaurant, grocery, and cooking school in one. Sen believes it is going into the Harriet Himmel Theater in the heart of CityPlace once an $8 million renovation of the old church building is complete.

With a pinpoint focus on all things Italian, including a pizza menu, Eataly would make his pizzeria an afterthought, Sen said.

Other smaller restaurants around the outdoor mall will be gone within a year as well, he predicts. The Cheesecake Factory next door to City Pizza, is moving to Okeechobee Boulevard, making way potentially for an eight-story hotel. 

He fears other small businesses will leave, unable  to afford the new rents.

“Sure, it’s going to hurt the school kids,” meaning those at Dreyfoos School of the Arts a block away.  “Where else can you go to buy a slice and a drink?

Feeling priced out

Parents of high school students wanted to protest his ouster to the mayor, he said, but it was too late to make a difference.

Another group of nearby condo residents led by Tom Carelli, author of a newsletter around the area called CityPlaceAngels, met at the restaurant for the third “farewell” dinner. They, too, had supported the restaurant.

“This was an original CityPlace restaurant. You’d think they’d want him to stay. There aren’t many left,” Carelli said.

Three farewell dinners have been held at City Pizza so far, and more are scheduled.

“We love this place. It’s very convenient — call and order, and come downstairs in a minute it’s ready,” said Bob VanNess, one of the residents of the Courtyards in CityPlace. He and his wife, Miriam, were at the most recent “last supper.”

The locals all know one another, greeting each other with hugs and catching up on the latest rumors. The pizzeria is also affordable and allows residents to eat here several times a week if they want, VanNess said.

“I guarantee in a year — maybe less — you won’t be able to have dinner here (CityPlace) for $20 anymore.”

Several new places that recently opened, including Adrienne’s Pizzabar and Harry’s Bar & Restaurant, a Wall Street-based steakhouse, have shown that to be true, he said.

“They’re all New York places coming in. Nothing wrong with New York,” he said. “Their stuff is good.”

But paying the New York City prices is hurting the locals who frequented mom-and-pop casual places like City Pizza, he said.

VanNess is originally from Detroit, and spent years in Baltimore. He retired in West Palm Beach.

“They’re pricing us out of this neighborhood,” he said. “Look at the new apartments right across the street. They are getting two or three grand for a studio or one-bedroom apartment.”

Coming to the Outlets: City Pizza Cucina Italiano

Sen bought the restaurant from Sen’s cousin in 2010. He’s watched the life cycles of families that have become friends over the years.

He smiles, remembering. 

“We’ve heard so many stories these last months. Customers coming in and saying they had their first date here, or their mom’s birthday. One couple got engaged here, so they reserve the same table every year on their anniversary. We’re going to take Table 10 with us, just for them.”

Sen will move City Pizza to the Tanger Outlets Palm Beach in the strip that houses Whole Foods, he said. He tried to stay downtown, he said, but there were negatives that made the decision to go to the outlet mall easier.

“Rents were outrageous, and there’s the parking problem. I need space, too: I do a lot of catering.”

The new restaurant will be smaller, with only 100 seats — half his current space. Staffing must be cut, too. “We have 50 people working here; there, I’ll only have about 25.”

He’ll offer delivery, and expects that part of the business to increase substantially at the new location, though at CityPlace, “We’re No. 1 on Door Dash and Uber Eats in the area.”

He plans to keep ties to the old neighborhood, though. “I’ll deliver to these friends in the condos.”

He says he heard an upscale Indian restaurant will open in his spot. Ela Curry and Cocktails, a restaurant and market and sister of Stage in Palm Beach Gardens, is a potential choice. Meanwhile, Sen plans to reopen as City Pizza Cucina Italiano in mid-October.

After publication, the story was updated to reflect the actions taken by CityPlaceAngels.