Blossom Deli of Charleston, WV to Close Saturday

The Charleston Gazette is reporting that the Blossom Deli of Charleston, West Virginia will be shutting down after Saturday’s lunch service.  Owner Bill Sohovich plans to discuss his reasons for closing the restaurant on Wednesday, but Charleston’s mayor noted that business has been particularly slow lately for downtown restaurants.  In his Roadfood.com review Michael Stern said, “An Art Deco dairy bar restored to gleaming perfection, the Blossom Deli is an upscale eatery with beautiful steaks, seafood, vegetarian dishes, and one heck of a good hot fudge sundae.”

New Parasol Owners Hope For Early October Reopening

The new owners of the now-closed Parasol’s Bar in New Orleans hope to have it reopened by early October, according to this story in The Times-Picayune.  John and Thea Hogan recently purchased the locally, and nationally, beloved Parasol’s, and Mr. Hogan says they will be keeping things pretty much as they’ve always been: “I know how New Orleans people are after having been married to one for a while.  You don’t mess with their stuff.”

Parasol’s Closes Today; Tracey’s Opens Tomorrow

Today is the last day of Parasol’s Bar (Roadfood.com review) in the Irish Channel section of New Orleans.  Jeffrey and Jaimee Carreras have been running Parasol’s for the last 12 years, and over the years have turned the humble bar into the city’s premier po-boy joint.  The building has been sold and the new owners want the Carreras out.  All is not lost, however, as the Carreras have landed down the street at 2604 Magazine.  They will call their place Tracey’s, which was the original name of Parasol’s.  The whole Parasol’s staff will be moving along with the Carreras, as will the menu of po-boy classics.  And opening day is tomorrow, believe it or not.  We’re anxious to hear reports from anyone who gives Tracey’s a try.

You can read the details of the move on the Parasol’s website, although we are not certain how long that info will remain up after the sale and move takes place today.

Pres Goes Roadfooding

President Obama paid a visit to New Orleans yesterday to mark the five-year anniversary of Katrina, and to give a speech at Xavier University.  You can read all about it in your local newspaper.  But this is Roadfood, not CNN, so what we really want to know is, where did he eat?  And the answer is the famous po-boy purveyor known as Parkway Bakery (Roadfood.com review), which we ranked a close second to Parasol’s (which closes tomorrow, and will reopen a few blocks away as Tracey’s on Wednesday) during a springtime po-boy tour of the Crescent City.  What did he get?  The glorious shrimp po-boy, which overflows with snapping-fresh, perfectly cooked critters.  Evidently, his concern for his waistline prevented him from ordering the surf-and-turf po-boy.  Read more on this CNN blog.

White House Sub Shop Opening in Trump Taj

Some people go to Atlantic City for the gambling, or “gaming” as the industry likes to call it.  Some, like us, go because that’s where the White House Sub Shop is (Roadfood.com review).  For those who would like to do both, there is good news: the White House Sub Shop will be opening their first branch in the Trump Taj Mahal in the spring of 2011, according to pressofAtlanticCity.com.  The new location will attempt to duplicate the look and feel of the Arctic Avenue original.

A Local News Report on the Jigger’s Diner Closure

Anchor Bar Debuts at New York State Fair

Anchor Bar (Roadfood.com review), Buffalo’s inventor of the Buffalo wing, will make it’s debut at the 2010 New York State Fair, which opens this Thursday.  The legendary wings will be served in the Horticulture Building, according to a story in syracuse.com.  Something else caught our eye in that syracuse.com story, unrelated to Anchor Bar: a change in state law will permit the wine tent to sell 10-ounce glasses of New York State wine, and customers can walk around the fair with their glasses of wine.  Ten ounces.  That’s almost half a bottle!

Indy’s Rathskeller Closed By Crane Collapse

A crane collapse yesterday morning damaged the roof, and burst the sprinkler system, in Indianapolis’ historic Athenaeum building, closing the businesses housed there, including the equally historic Rathskeller restaurant (Roadfood.com review).  The bar is open today, and the restaurant hopes to reopen the dining room Wednesday or Thursday.  Three people were hurt in the collapse, none seriously.  The crane was sitting in Rathskeller’s beer garden at the time of the collapse, and was there to remove the chimney to the Athenaeum.  Read more at indystar.com here, here, and here.  Note that one article says the Rathskeller has reopened, but a call to the Rathskeller confirmed that the dining room was still closed at lunchtime today.

Jigger’s Diner of East Greenwich, RI Closed By State

Jigger’s Diner of East Greenwich, RI was closed by the state Department of Revenue last week for non-payment of taxes, according to this report on projo.com.  No word on how much they owe, or when, or if, they will reopen.  The story says that the diner was recently put up for sale.

Michael Stern, in the Roadfood.com review of Jigger’s, said, “Those jonnycakes still are definitive.”

Bob Sykes Closes Tannehill Park Location

We posted here on 8/18/09 that Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q of Bessemer, AL (Roadfood.com review) was about to open their second location, in Birmingham’s Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park,  in September of last year.  It’s now almost a year later and al.com reports that owner Van Sykes has sold the Tannehill branch, which will be converted back to Original Furnace Masters, the restaurant Sykes replaced.  Mr. Sykes has vowed to put an end to thoughts of opening branches of his Bessemer restaurant, saying it’s just too unique to duplicate.