Owner says Urbana dueling-piano bar staying silent
URBANA – Monday marked the swan song for 88 Broadway.
The dueling-piano bar at Urbana's Lincoln Square Village closed following dinner and performances that night.
Owner Doug Larson said the closing was "definitely for the summer, probably permanently."
The 7,300-square-foot restaurant opened for business last July in what was once the western entrance to the Carson Pirie Scott store.
Fondue was the restaurant's specialty, but it also served salads, sandwiches and pizzas.
The eatery frequently attracted groups of people for birthday parties and bachelor parties, Larson said.
About 40 employees are affected by the closing, said Larson, who added he hopes to work with mall owner Jim Webster to determine a future for the space.
In a 2008 interview with The News-Gazette, Larson said he envisioned 88 Broadway as a high-spirited venue where pianists play, sing and make people laugh.
But in terms of audiences, the concept attracted either "a lot or a little," he said.
Larson said the business is not filing bankruptcy, and all vendors will be paid.
I was really excited when I heard that CU was getting an "upscale" piano bar. Then I went to the mall after 88 Broadway opened and looked in the restaurant only to find that the pianos were not even real pianos, just electric keyboards on stands made to look like pianos. Plus, they had multiple big screen TVs (TVs in a upscale piano bar?!) and the whole restaurant opened up into the mall - who wants to eat IN a mall!? There was no privacy. The whole thing was a let down - I never ate there....
No surprise here: that place stunk! Bad fondue, too loud, and high prices. The service was okay, until a busload of jerks with spiked hair, striped shirts and tight artificial vintage t-shirts from the Joe's trolley would roll in. The piano guys were hit and miss and their policy of not serving their full menu when their piano players were performing was ridiculous. A stinking fish of a restaurant like 88 Broadway was no way to revive Lincoln Square.
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