Old Tony's Gets 2-Year Lease Extension

Fans of , also known as Old Tony's, can rest a little easier tonight—the restaurant and the city have agreed to a two-year lease extension, Tony's general manager Regi Fong confirmed Thursday.

"There will be a little better holiday feeling around here," Fong said.

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Without the extension, the 60-year-old restaurant's lease would expire in February 2012, and the owners feared the new lease would be month-to-month. 

The city is currently working to bundle the leases into one large leasehold, and existing businesses with long-term leases make the package less attractive to future investors. Nevertheless, city officials have insisted that for now, Old Tony's will remain in its spot.

A request for proposal will be sent out in the near future to find someone to manage the pier itself. Once the city finds an entity to take over the pier, that entity will be able to further extend Tony's lease.

City Councilman Pat Aust said the owners of Tony's, also known as Old Tony's, were ready to spend more than $1 million to renovate the building's interior, should the lease be extended to something more long-term.

Fong called the proposed plans "a major, major overhaul."

"We're not going to invest a vast amount of money in here when we're going to be out in two years," Fong told Patch.

Tony Trutanich Jr., whose father founded the restaurant, told the Daily Breeze last week that he hoped to secure a 40-year lease.

Nevertheless, Fong said news of the two-year extension was welcomed around the eatery.

"[The employees] are resting a little bit more at ease, but you know, two years is kind of a drop in the bucket," Fong said. "I think at this point, the employees are a little bit more at ease. It's given them a little bit more time."