Business & Tech

Fans Facebook to Save Old Tony's

Updated: City officials say they are putting together a lease extension process, and it should be ready by summer.

Owners and fans of —otherwise known as "Old Tony's"—have started a grassroots movement to save the restaurant, complete with Facebook fan pages and pleas for people to attend Tuesday night's City Council meeting in support of the business.

The restaurant's lease is up in February 2012, and management fears it would be forced to go on a month-to-month lease.

Nevertheless, Mayor Mike Gin said the council has made no decision regarding the property's lease.

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"In the interest of fairness to all of our other longtime legacy and historic small businesses on the Pier who are interested in lease extensions as well, all potential leaseholders and investors will be given the opportunity to participate in the leasehold and lease extension process that we are currently developing that will be ready this coming summer," he wrote in an email to Christina Wickers, which she published on her Facebook profile. "I will work to ensure that Tony's has an opportunity to participate through this process as a partner in the future revitalization of our historic Pier."

City Councilman Bill Brand told the Daily Breeze that the city would not extend the lease because it's looking for a new manager for the pier, and long-term leases make the property less desirable.

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At least two Facebook pages have sprung up in support of Old Tony's—"Save Old Tony's on the Pier in Redondo Beach," with 549 "likes," and "Save Tony's on the Pier," with 923 "likes"—where South Bay residents and Tony's aficionados post their reaction to the news. A Facebook group, called "SAVE TONY'S on the PIER in Redondo Beach," sports 389 members.

On the "Save Old Tony's" Facebook page, one of the administrators encouraged fans to attend the next Redondo Beach City Council meeting on May 17.

"We need to get at least a dozen people to speak to the Council and let them know our feelings regarding this issue," the page administrator wrote.

It appears that city officials are listening to fans' pleas. According to several posts on the Facebook pages dedicated to the lease situation, as well as posts on the restaurant's official Facebook page, Mayor Mike Gin and Pete Carmichael, the director of business and transit for the harbor, invited fans to attend a meeting Monday night at the Redondo Beach Pier.

Details from the meeting were not immediately available.

Councilman Steve Aspel, in an emailed response to Wickers' inquiry about the lease process, also said that fans of the restaurant should wait to storm council meetings until the actual lease was on the agenda.

"Showing up to speak during our public comment session is OK," he wrote, "but since we have nothing to vote on … all we can do is listen. And the maximum allotted time is a total of 30 minutes. If the item is on the agenda, everyone can speak, even if it takes hours and hours!"

Still, though Old Tony's future is uncertain, its passionate fans have resolved to do whatever it takes to save it—at least virtually.

"My dad has been an employee [at] Tony's for 30+ years," wrote Maribel Morales on both Facebook pages dedicated to saving the establishment. "This restaurant is an extension of my family—my childhood was spent inside those walls. We cannot let Tony's disappear!"

And in response to the outcry, Aspel told Wickers the city has no intention of unilaterally shutting the restaurant down.

"I think we have all heard loud and clear that many, many people want to keep Tony's," he said. "That was my intention all along, anyway."


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