Rookies restaurant on Main Street will close its doors permanently this Monday.
This June would have marked the three-year anniversary for the restaurant that has been host to many community events.
After three years of breaking even, part-owner Ed Symbol said he and his partners decided it was time to let it go. Symbol, who is also a city councilor, said the investor group has sold the assets to an Atlanta-based man who intends to open a traditional Mexican restaurant in the space.
Symbol said most likely the investor group, Rookies Inc., will dissolve within the next 30 to 60 days and will not look to invest in any other businesses together.
Symbol said Rookies opened to “a lot of negative publicity,” but he didn’t think that was a factor in its inability to turn a profit. The negative publicity centered around the investors in the restaurant, which included some of Westbrook’s more prominent personalities.
The investor list included then-City Council President Jim Violette; Jeanne Gousse, the wife of High School Principal Marc Gousse; Jane Sawyer, the wife of School Superintendent Stan Sawyer; former Suburban News Editor John Balentine, who is now editor of the Lakes Region Suburban Weekly, and Steve Rand, a local attorney who was a member of the planning board at the time. (The Lakes Region Suburban Weekly is owned by Current Publishing, which also owns the American Journal.)
There was also concern at the time that Rookies Inc. was opening a bar, which would have gone against a City Council ban against new bars in downtown Westbrook. The fact that Rookies was a restaurant made it acceptable in the eyes of city officials, and since its opening, a slew of other restaurants have opened downtown in its wake.
If anything, Symbol said he believes the opening of competition might have affected the success of Rookies. He saw Rookies as paving the way for eating establishments coming to the downtown and helping in its revitalization.
“When we started, it was the only game in town (other than Casa Novello),” Symbol said. “We thought it was a great idea.”
Symbol said the restaurant’s closing is “bittersweet,” and he’s not looking to invest in any more restaurants. He said he and his partner in Full Court Press, Jerry Sands, will focus back on that business.
“It was a one-shot deal,” he said. “I don’t think we have any more restaurants in our future.”
As for the traditional Mexican restaurant, Symbol said he thinks it’ll bring a new clientele to the city and be a good addition to the downtown.
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