Papa Grande’s has closed its Rehoboth Beach location.
“Between adding four very successful ventures in DE Turf, Baywood, Matt’s Fish Camp Lewes, & Bluecoast Rehoboth to the mix, and with several projects coming in the near future, we opted not to renew the lease,” Mike Dickinson, vice president of operations for owner SoDel Cocepts, wrote in a memo to employees.
“Papa Grande’s was very successful for SoDel Concepts, but we signed a short-term lease when we initially took over the restaurant and were unable to come to terms with the owner of the property on a long-term agreement,” Dickinson wrote. “The building will be occupied by a couple from Virginia who will be fulfilling their life-long dream of opening a restaurant in downtown Rehoboth, and we are fortunate to be in a position to help them realize their dream.”
All staff from Papa Grande’s has been relocated to other restaurants and has helped fill crucial positions, Dickinson noted.
Papa Grande’s had earlier held an end of the season event at the restaurant.
SoDel will continue to operate Papa Grande’s on Fenwick Island. The restaurant specializes in Latin cuisine. It has nine other restaurants in Coastal Sussex County as well as consulting and catering operations.
The restaurant location is in an old building in the beach community and SoDel may have wanted to pursue renovations to the space.
The Rehoboth-based restaurant group saw a successful launch this year for Bluecoast, a seafood restaurant off Route 1 near Rehoboth. Bluecoast marked something of a departure for SoDel, since it was built from scratch on a pad site near a shopping center on the busy corridor