La Petit owner opens new bistro at Sports Pavilion
At right, Sports Pavilion Manager Barry Hardesty welcomes La Petit Café owner Guillermo Rivas, who will be opening Memo’s Bistro inside the Sports Pavilion on July 17th. With Rivas is Memo’s Bistro General Manager Trisha Franklin, who will run the new restaurant. Memo’s is Rivas’ third location in the Sun Cities, with the other’s at the Del E. Webb Memorial Hospital campus in Sun City West and Bell Recreation Center in Sun City.
Memo’s Bistro will replace the Strike Zone Restaurant, opening for breakfast, lunch and dinner July 17. The Strike Zone’s last day will be July 14. Rivas will offer a wide variety of items on his menu, including seafood, sandwiches, burgers, soups, salads and comfort food. Breakfast will include a full menu of eggs, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and French toast, and many other options with various sides.The Recreation Centers of Sun City West is excited to announce a partnership with the owner of La Petit Café to open a new restaurant in the Sports Pavilion.
“We will have a complete breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. We’re known for offering fresh food in a homemade style,” said Rivas, who has operated in the Sun Cities for 15 years. “The opportunity to be serving dinner is what really attracted us to this location,” he added.
Rivas invites the community to an Open House at Memo’s, 19803 R.H. Johnson Blvd., from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 31. He will have beverages and a variety of finger foods available to sample.
Along with its regular fare, Memo’s will offer special menus when the Sports Pavilion hosts special events. Regular hours will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays; and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Beer and wine will be available at the Sports Pavilion counter.
Rivas’ other locations are on the Banner Del Webb Hospital campus, and at Bell Recreation Center in Sun City. Trisha Franklin, general manager of those locations will also manage Memo’s. “We plan to repeat our success,” Rivas said. “We hope that you will be joining us on our new journey.”
Memo’s will remain open during the Sports Pavilion’s annual maintenance closure July 29 through Aug. 12.
Sports Pavilion Manager Barry Hardesty said he was happy about the transition to Memo’s following a tough transition from the previous lessee to a brief period when the Recreation Centers ran the restaurant.
“We didn’t really have a choice but to take over the restaurant for a while,” said Hardesty. “I know the previous restaurant was popular, but there were issues that had to be addressed. So we took over for a while, but we’re happy to be turning it over to a professional who is already well known in the community. I believe Memo’s will fit the community’s tastes and the restaurant will be a great fit for the Sports Pavilion.”
Greg, When we took over the restuarant from Michael, thre was a great deal of renovation that needed to be done, in addition to replacing many items taht were no longer there. Some of the $114,000 is part of that renovation. The new restaurateur has agreed to a lease to own contract which will reimburse the Association for the equipment that we had to replace, in addition to the standard rental agreement.
The day the Board puts back $114,000+ into our coffers to pay us back for their… “poor judgement” … well, I don’t se anything like that EVER happening, although it should be Paramount to ALL of us dues paying members. Something will freeze over first!
It was about time that someone came to their senses about this restaurant. We should have NEVER gone into the restaurant business in the first place, as we are not qualified. Whoever made the initial decision to take over the Strike Zone eatery should pay back to the members all of the money we lost because of this hair brained idea. We have no business directly running a for profit business. I ran a restaurant for many years and believe me it’s not as easy as it looks. I will support this new restaurant only because we have nothing to do with it. Leave the profit making to those who know what they are doing.
There’s only one thing anyone can (or should) say.. HALLELUJAH!! (Spelling that was the hard part) This is the BEST POSSIBLE move the Board has made in… well, it’s an extremely positive move!!! You want to talk about “taking the eatery in another direction”! The place will be SWAMMPED… all the time. I would HIGHLY recommend supporting this venue. I’ve gone to la Petitte frequently for a long time and have mentioned the idea to many, many friends since the death of the previous “owner” (??). Although he was missed a good deal by many, this venue will top anything else! GO! BUY MEALS! VISIT OFTEN!!! FANTASTIC!
As the recently elected Governing Board member who has been assigned to Chair the Bowling Committee, I agree and support this announcement. The restaurant business is a tough business and needs close management and supervision. I know this announcement is a positive step as we move forward with plans for the coming years. Congratulations and lets support the new management with our choice of places to go!