Benchwarmers and Bizerq, the two midtown concepts by Wood Tavern's Cesar Morales, have closed after just a few months in business.
Morales, who issued a statement about the closing on Benchwarmers' Facebook page, tells Short Order that although the restaurant/sports bar was doing well, it closed due to a few factors, including high rent. Benchwarmers was also tied into nightclub Bizerq in the lease, and Morales had to walk away from both, according to the contract. "Benchwarmers wasn't really the problem. If I could have kept Benchwarmers, I would have. Unfortunately, both were on the same lease."
See also: Bizerq and Benchwarmers Closing, "Barely Open a Few Months"
Morales added, "It's an awkward space where there's lots of wasted square footage that you're paying for. Because Benchwarmers was small, we were limited in how much business we could generate." Even though he says that nightclub Bizerq did well, with about 400 to 500 people enjoying the space, it still wasn't enough to make a profit.
The restaurant's large selection of spuds is being mourned on Benchwarmers' Facebook page, where people are requesting that the fryer be moved to Wood Tavern. And it might just happen.
Morales thinks it's a great idea. "I'm actually working on it. People really loved the fries. I'm trying to see what people liked and incorporate them into Wood."
Right now, Morales is going to take a step back and see what worked at Benchwarmers to try to go forward and incorporate the best aspects into Wood. "I'm not going anywhere. It's time to move on to the next project."
Let's hope the fries -- available in regular, curly, waffle-cut, chip, or sweet potato form -- arrive at Wood Tavern soon, because nothing goes better with a few cold ones than a basket of crisp chips sprinkled with cayenne pepper.
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