With no apparent connection to the blowout at Scott Stadium on November 28, the UVA-versus-Virginia-Tech-themed Rivals Sports Bar & Grill closed abruptly last week. A frequent meeting and stomping ground for the local Republican party—only last month the bar/restaurant served as the post-victory site for incumbent Republican Rob Bell in the 58th District delegate race—the three-year-old Rivals has been popular with folks who like their TVs big and numerous, their drafts cheap, their potato skins greasy and their karaoke regular. Unfortunately, the down-home vibe went downhill rather badly. A man identifying himself as a former Rivals manager when Restaurantarama called the place told us that Rivals had in fact closed quickly due to “an unfortunate turn of events,” namely, “legal issues with the state.”
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Rivals closed suddenly after “legal issues with the state” that, apparently, even Rob Bell couldn’t patch up. |
As of last Monday, Rivals, which has an attached nightclub called Club Rivals, voluntarily surrendered its Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license in an administrative court hearing at the regional office of the Virginia ABC. Assistant ABC supervisor Steve Jones told Restaurantarama the voluntary surrender was in connection with an agreement with Albemarle County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, related to criminal charges against the bar. As a result of the surrender, Jones said charges by the ABC of “misrepresenting a material fact” on Rival’s most recent ABC license were dropped as well. As of press time, Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford could not be reached for comment.
Gregg Powell, whose family has owned a food and beverage establishment on the site for decades—before Rivals it was Wolfie’s and before that it was Boudreau’s—is now selling the business, and their real estate agent Amy Bishop tells us the former Rivals owners are selling the place “as is” and that they “are not willing to do another restaurant.”
Concurring with that sentiment, the former Rivals manager says, “This is the end of the Rivals-Wolfie’s-Boudreau’s trilogy.”
Monsoon remains for now
On the other side of town, Monsoon is a family-run Thai restaurant that unexpectedly closes for brief periods now and again, as family-run businesses often do. A few years ago, a “closed for the holidays” sign hanging on the door well after, well, the holidays caused Restaurantarama to speculate a pending sale. Another recent conspicuous closure, plus the appearance of kitchen and dining room equipment piled on the front porch, has reignited those sale suspicions, and owner Lu-Mei Chang tells us the rumor is partly true this time.
“We’re having the hardwood floors cleaned up and sanded,” says Chang. As of press time, she planned to reopen the restaurant for “business as usual” last Thursday. In fact, though, she says she’d be happy to sell the place.
“I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” she says. “My daughter is almost finished with college. I’m ready to not work 16 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”
Don’t lament Monsoon’s succulent beef satay just yet, however. Chang, who owns the little house containing the restaurant as well as the attached commercial and residential spaces, says it will take time to find the right buyer—“Someone who has a lot of energy and passion for cooking and food.”
