The Dock @ Lansdowne Closed

Anyone hear why The Dock has closed?

From the Loudoun Times Mirror...

"The Dock at Lansdowne restaurant, which quickly became a well-known and liked dining spot and place for social, business and political gatherings following its St. Patrick’s Day 2006 opening, shuttered its doors on Feb. 25.

Co-owner Scott Wills said in an email to the Times-Mirror, “At this time, we are reorganizing in the hopes of reopening in the near future.” No further information was available.

Passers-by have reported that the lights were off and stools and chairs were stacked on tables.

Social networking media sites such as Facebook were rife with reports that The Dock has closed, with many patrons expressing surprise and remorse that it was closed for business.

Roughly 40 to 45 people who worked at The Dock were informed by the owners about the news this morning. Wills said that on average the restaurant had seen 1,700-2,100 guests per week.

The restaurant is in the Lansdowne Town Center, which was developed by Saul Centers, Inc. of Bethesda, MD.

Another restaurant in the complex, El Mariachi, recently shut down."

 

I was told by someone that it had to do with an increase in rent dispute. The landlord/owner of the building didn't like that the Dock bar was open past a certain hour, way beyond dinner hours, attracting the drinking crowd, so therefore, rent was increased. Heard it third hand, so don't know if it is true...

 

I ate brunch at the Dock a couple of times and did not like it ... on my last visit, both the French Toast and the home fries were excessively greasy and had an "off" taste, and the fruit on the side was not freshly cut. I didn't try this restaurant a third time.

I did like Mariachi but found their regular menu items to be kind of pricey for what you got. I preferred to buy a catering-size 32 ounce black beans, 32 ounce Mexican rice, and 16 ounce salsa and make my own burritos at home with their delicious ingredients.

Silk Road was by far my favorite Lansdowne restaurant and had wonderful Afghan food. They have been closed a couple of years now.

I suppose the rents are just too high in that shopping center...

 

One of my friends knows the owner of the Dock, the rent was $22,000 per month!! Owner said that after the snow storm (?), they were never able to get the coffers back to where they needed to be. Not sure I'm buying that, but $22k is a huge rent for a restaurant.

 

They could be referring to last year. There were pretty much two weeks of lost business last winter and that can really hurt.

 

The Broadlands Safeway shopping center and the Lansdowne one are both owned by BF Saul who is notorious for ridiculous rents, and lately... high vacancy!

 

They also have the Village Center (where Finnigans is) which is also highly vacant.

 

Apparently it's being dismantled as we speak. Velocity Five Sports Bar is going in that vacant slot.

 

correct. don't be surprised to see the owner of the Dock pop up with another excellent venue in LoCo...

 

I heard it had to do with a divorce from someone who used to eat there frequently. Don't know anything else, but they really miss it.

 

And of course, all we need is another sports bar :rolleyes3:

 

Yeah!! Now if someone would fill the old Cal Tort, Mayflowers, Mariachi, Art Frame Depot, Verizon wireless store... and whatever else I missed, I will be forever grateful.

 

I didn't know that Cali Tort closed!

 

At Lansdowne not Brambleton. It has been closed at least a year now in Ldowne... maybe longer.

 

Did the owners also tell your friend that they weren't paying all their rent and holding money back to open a new restaurant? Doesn't matter how much the rent was, they signed an agreement to pay it and then claimed they couldn't pay and were not exactly honest. This is new info I got recently and other other info I had was something I just heard. This info came from an extremely reliable source.

 

Not sure if she had that information and if she did, she wouldn't have spilled the beans. Regardless, a lot of the rents are extraordinarily high around here and rather than working with tenants, some of the landlords allow units to go empty...much to the dismay of my college buddies from go bananas! If Rick opens a new restaurant somewhere, I'll go support him. And I really hope some of the Broadlands space gets filled as well, I'm expecting tumbleweeds there lately.

 

Well, I certainly don't feel sorry for them if they weren't holding up their end of the deal they made which I understand to be the case. I also wouldn't consider it "spilling the beans". Why not tell the truth.

 

Because it's not her restaurant, nor her business.