Blame the train.
PR’s Taco Palace in Winter Park has closed. Owner Perry Inman closed the original location of the Tex-Mex restaurant Saturday after nearly 30 years in operation at that location..
“It’s sad to leave,” he said when reached by phone Monday. “I’m sad, but we’ve had fun.”
Inman blamed the problems with the building, notably a lack of parking, an issue he didn’t have when he first opened in November 1987. PR’s is on Fairbanks Avenue at the railroad crossing, and until a couple of years ago, there was a street that followed along the tracks, angling from Fairbanks Avenue to New York Avenue. Patrons of the bar/restaurant could park along the street next to the tracks.
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This hasn’t been a good week for restaurants on Fairbanks Avenue.
First we learned that PR’s Taco Palace would close after three decades. Now comes word that Scratch, the creative little small-plates restaurant that opened in 2013 to critical acclaim will close next week.
A formal announcement has not been made, and attempts to reach manager Ashley Byrd were not immediately successful.
Despite a storefront location that looked out on Fairbanks, Scratch didn’t have great visibility, and it was always difficult to know where to park for the restaurant just off of New England Avenue. But people filled the seats at the bar or one of the few tables to taste dishes like Pork Belly Adobo and Loup de Mer.
In July of 2015, Dustin Haney, who opened Scratch as its chef, parted with his partners and left Central Florida. He is now a merchant marine, which tells you something about the life of a chef,
According to a post on Byrd’s Facebook page, the restaurant will close on Monday.
