A moment of silence for the passing of what sounded like a very cool restaurant plan.
The Pio Loco Tapas project is dead, said Brad Tillson, who’d planned a tapas restaurant within Pine Street School’s 7,500-square-foot Mexican restaurant location at 1135 Pine Street.
Of course, he’s disappointed.
Tillson, the former director of BloodSource North State, spent months planning menus, sampling dishes, writing a business plan, imagining paint colors and even setting up supplier accounts.
Everyone who’d heard about Tillson’s place looked forward to the prospect of a restaurant that served small plates of good, fresh food at the new Pio Loco Tapas. I know I did.
“A perfect storm” is how Tillson described the events that led to the death of his business idea.
First, he said, banks were reluctant to lend money to a new restaurant.
Second, Tillson said, he and Pio Loco owner, Jeff Cerasaro, disagreed on the price.
Wednesday, Tillson tried to find the silver lining in that storm that soaked his dream.
“Maybe that building was too big,” he said.
“Maybe what we need is something smaller – 1,400 to 2,000 square feet. Or maybe there’s another venture out there. My daughter is trying to get me to buy a hair salon. I’d be going from the frying pan into the hair salon. It’s unfortunate, but I’m the eternal optimist. Maybe it’s all for the best.”
