Lorena's is moving into the former Cassidy space!

From their FB page:

We have some very exciting news! Next month, Lorena’s is expanding, and we are moving to a new location just steps away! 2020 has been challenging and unlike any year we have ever seen. Nevertheless, we have exceeded expectations because of our amazing community, family, and friends. We heard you and “pivoted” to meet new requests, and we know we have a long road ahead until things are back to normal. We can’t wait to see you in person sometime in the new year. For now, we will continue to take your orders with gratitude and love. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We will keep you posted with more details in the days and weeks to come! Cheers!


Will they get its liquor licence?


ridski said:

Will they get its liquor licence?

That is a very interesting question, because that would turn them from a decently priced place into a super-expensive one.


basil said:

ridski said:

Will they get its liquor licence?

That is a very interesting question, because that would turn them from a decently priced place into a super-expensive one.

 Hmm... Lorena's has always been a special occasion place for me, but the food is always worth it. If it has a bar, I would hope the drinks would be worth it, too. I found The Cassidy a disappointment, TBH.


ridski said:

basil said:

ridski said:

Will they get its liquor licence?

That is a very interesting question, because that would turn them from a decently priced place into a super-expensive one.

 Hmm... Lorena's has always been a special occasion place for me, but the food is always worth it. If it has a bar, I would hope the drinks would be worth it, too. I found The Cassidy a disappointment, TBH.

I agree on all counts. Lorena's food prices are pretty much comparable with an upscale Manhattan restaurant, but BYO kept overall pricing at a decent level.


Wow. 

Liquor licenses sell for something like $500K around here, right? I'm not sure if current market conditions have depressed that number. Either way, a big pill to swallow. And, as Mr Fawlty points out, would probably significantly increase the price point. 

The Cassidy space has quite a large bar area, right? It would make sense to keep that going.


The Township of Maplewood has a liquor license they have been trying to sell with no takers.  They were hoping it would go to a business on Springfield Avenue but I think that restriction may have been lifted.  This could be a source of a liquor license for Lorena's (should they want one), even if the Cassidy's license is not available.


ridski said:

 Hmm... Lorena's has always been a special occasion place for me, but the food is always worth it. If it has a bar, I would hope the drinks would be worth it, too. I found The Cassidy a disappointment, TBH.

 Totally agree. I have never been disappointed with Lorena's. I wonder how his other place Luna Stella is doing. I haven't tried it yet. 


ridski said:

Will they get its liquor licence?

 The landlord owns the liquor license. 


Chef is no longer associated with Luna Stella. He announced that back in September.


jfinnegan said:

ridski said:

 Hmm... Lorena's has always been a special occasion place for me, but the food is always worth it. If it has a bar, I would hope the drinks would be worth it, too. I found The Cassidy a disappointment, TBH.

 Totally agree. I have never been disappointed with Lorena's. I wonder how his other place Luna Stella is doing. I haven't tried it yet. 

 


Harriet said:

 

 Thanks for the info. I guess no reason to go then, unless they get live music back again. 


Soul_29 said:

 The landlord owns the liquor license. 

 Are you talking about the Cassidy? Or Luna Stella?


oots said:

 Are you talking about the Cassidy? Or Luna Stella?

 I believe it's both. 


ml1 said:

 I believe it's both. 

 Hence my confusion 


oots said:

 Are you talking about the Cassidy? Or Luna Stella?

 Sounds like soul29 is talking about the landlord at cassidy’s


jfinnegan said:

ridski said:

 Hmm... Lorena's has always been a special occasion place for me, but the food is always worth it. If it has a bar, I would hope the drinks would be worth it, too. I found The Cassidy a disappointment, TBH.

 Totally agree. I have never been disappointed with Lorena's. I wonder how his other place Luna Stella is doing. I haven't tried it yet. 

The appeal of Lorena's for me was the intimate setting, BYOB, and great food.  Two out of three may change with the new location. It will be interesting to see how they will scale up into the new space.


yahooyahoo said:

The appeal of Lorena's for me was the intimate setting, BYOB, and great food.  Two out of three may change with the new location. It will be interesting to see how they will scale up into the new space.

Yup, I hope they somehow retain this, because Lorena's is/was great. Cassidy was more or less the opposite of an intimate setting. But they may re-configure it. 


We picked up dinner from Lorena's for a special occasion four weeks ago and, even without the ambience or stand-out wait staff, weren't disappointed. It was, as always, a treat worth every penny.


yahooyahoo said:

The appeal of Lorena's for me was the intimate setting, BYOB, and great food.  Two out of three may change with the new location. It will be interesting to see how they will scale up into the new space.

 Anyone remember The Terra Cotta restaurant that was in that space 20-odd years ago?  It was one of our all-time favorites - with the intimate setting, BYOB, and great food.  We were so sad when it closed.  I think that there may have been something else in there in between but I'm not sure. 

We've been to Lorena's twice over the years and were disappointed both times.  Perhaps we were just unlucky or maybe we just don't have the "right" taste.  We aren't big fans of Arturo's either which is more or less sacrilege around here. 


sac said:

We've been to Lorena's twice over the years and were disappointed both times.  Perhaps we were just unlucky or maybe we just don't have the "right" taste.  We aren't big fans of Arturo's either which is more or less sacrilege around here. 

 --- as the post office says, "Each to his zone."


sac said:

 Anyone remember The Terra Cotta restaurant that was in that space 20-odd years ago?  It was one of our all-time favorites - with the intimate setting, BYOB, and great food.  We were so sad when it closed.  I think that there may have been something else in there in between but I'm not sure. 

We've been to Lorena's twice over the years and were disappointed both times.  Perhaps we were just unlucky or maybe we just don't have the "right" taste.  We aren't big fans of Arturo's either which is more or less sacrilege around here. 

 at least one other place followed Terra Cotta -- Joceylyn's.  That may have been the only other one aside from Lorena's.


I'm sure this is a minority opinion here, but I really liked The Cassidy. Didn't have an issue with the volume and really liked the food. Happy for Lorena's, where I've had a lovely special occasion dinner or two over the years, but I much prefer Cassidy-style food, so that's a shame. 


I liked the Cassidy's brunch, but one time I got two checks and another time I got the wrong check. We also got another table's food once. The price point was a bit high to have those types of mistakes, IMO. I do like the BYOB aspect of Lorena's. Sometimes the tables would be a little close together so that shouldn't be an issue any longer. Lorena's has handled the takeout very well. Not the same experience, but the food still tastes good.


My ideal of a restaurant that I would enjoy has always been the Italian place in The Godfather where Al Pacino shoots the two guys (except ya know, without the violence). -"Try the veal. It's the best in the city".


kenboy said:

I'm sure this is a minority opinion here, but I really liked The Cassidy. Didn't have an issue with the volume and really liked the food. Happy for Lorena's, where I've had a lovely special occasion dinner or two over the years, but I much prefer Cassidy-style food, so that's a shame. 

It’s a bit of a hike, but I think The Gladstone Tavern is still open. I hope so because I plan to use my Cassidy gift card there someday. 


steel said:

My ideal of a restaurant that I would enjoy has always been the Italian place in The Godfather where Al Pacino shoots the two guys (except ya know, without the violence). -"Try the veal. It's the best in the city".

 Many years ago (40?) there was an Italalian restaurant in Long Branch on the beach called the Surf Lounge. (This goes way back before there was any redeveloment.)  It was owned by a mobster called "Pussy" Russo. It had great food (it kind of had to.)  The standing joke was that you had to check the trunk of your car when you left to make sure there wasn't a body in it. 

I had a neighbor on my block (we lived there at the time) who was a criminal defense lawyer, who represented Pussy. One Saturday evening I asked if they wanted to go out for dinner and suggested the Surf. He said "I never used to be able to go there because all of my clients would be there, but they're all dead now." 

eta - Pussy was shot to death in Long Branch while on furlough from prison for Easter. 


ridski said:

It’s a bit of a hike, but I think The Gladstone Tavern is still open. I hope so because I plan to use my Cassidy gift card there someday. 

 Please let me know if that works for you. I have a gift card as well. 


steel said:

My ideal of a restaurant that I would enjoy has always been the Italian place in The Godfather where Al Pacino shoots the two guys (except ya know, without the violence). -"Try the veal. It's the best in the city".

 have you been to the Belmont Tavern in Bloomfield/Belleville border?  not exactly the same but an old town kind a place-great food


ridski said:

It’s a bit of a hike, but I think The Gladstone Tavern is still open. I hope so because I plan to use my Cassidy gift card there someday. 

 We really like the Gladstone - it's a nice drive, probably our most frequent visited place outside of restaurants in our area.


jamie said:

 We really like the Gladstone - it's a nice drive, probably our most frequent visited place outside of restaurants in our area.

We go out there fairly regularly because there's an excellent farm store in that area (River Bend Farms) but have never gone further up to the Tavern. We got the gift card last year for Xmas and decided not to use it during lockdown (preferring to buy food with cash to help keep the places open). Even though I wasn't a fan of the Cassidy, I was still sad to see it close.


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