Bradford’s Main Street is now without an Ittalian restaurant.
The Downbeat restaurant shut its doors in July after three of the business partners went their separate ways, said building owner Greg Ross. The building is being sold for $149,900 through Howard Hanna.
“It’s unfortunate as Bradford needs a really good Italian restaurant,” he said. “The Downbeat partnership signed a five-year lease with our company Goldenwest Group one year ago but due to the partners parting ways, and moving out of Bradford, they have decided to close and unilaterally terminate the lease.”
The three partners, Josh Martin, Brian Cobb and chef Patrick Michaels, took over the restaurant during the summer of 2017 from Jon Jordan, who initially reopened the Downbeat in 2016.
“The building located in the center of Historic Main Street has been upgraded with a new brick front fascia, a new roof and a new sewer system,” Ross said.
He purchased the building in 2016 at 27 Main St., and he spent more than $50,000 preparing the restaurant for occupancy. The building is two stories, totals 7,600 square feet and was constructed in 1900, according to the Howard Hanna website.
Included in the $149,900 sale price are tables, chairs, bar equipment, kitchen equipment, glassware, stoves, freezers, plates, silverware –– and the Pennsylvania liquor license.
“Everyone has asked me, ‘Why would you sell The Downbeat restaurant, and the Pennsylvania liquor license?’ and the reason is, myself along with my board of directors want to move the funds into other projects we have in Bradford.”
Bradford’s Main Street Manager Chelsea Schwab said the restaurant business is difficult to be involved in.
“It’s not just about whether or not you can cook. You must also know how to run a business and run it well,” she said. “We have had hundreds of comments on our survey stating that the top picks for a new restaurant downtown would be an authentic Italian restaurant or Mexican restaurant. The Downbeat location is an excellent place for either of these types of restaurants.”
For many years, the structure had been The Downbeat restaurant before being turned into the Abbasso at The Downbeat and later on, Kelly’s restaurant.
When contacted Thursday by The Era, Martin declined to provide a comment; Michaels said he had “no idea why” the restaurant shut down, indicating he had not been involved in the partnership at the time the decision to shut down was made. A message left with the phone number given for Cobb was not immediately returned by press time Thursday.
