Whoa! The Lime Inn is For Sale

[Teresa_Rae]

I saw on Frank Barnako's site that The Lime Inn is for sale.

I was surprised but I guess I shouldn't be, apparently Rich wants to retire. We didn't see him when we ate there last month, I think that is was first time we haven't seen him in 9 trips to STJ.

Here's the listing:
http://www.restaurants-for-sale.com/new ... inesstype=

[Coden]

Teresa_Rae - I read that...let's get 98 of our bff's and buy it.

[PA Girl]

I saw that too. The Lime Inn has been our favorite since our first visit in 1995. We ate there twice on our honeymoon, at least once every other trip and twice last July.

Selfishly, I hope they don't sell before our next trip. I want one last meal. (In my opinion, a change in ownership rarely results in a better restaurant.)

[Xislandgirl]

I would love to buy it. I would change almost nothing.

I would change the plates though. I am not sure why, but the plates there drive me nuts

Rich and Chris have really built a great business and STJ will miss them greatly

[Teresa_Rae]

Teresa_Rae - I read that...let's get 98 of our bff's and buy it.

I told my husband that we should buy it and he just said "wrong industry"...he works in healthcare. I’m a food scientist so it’s vaguely related to my career but since I’m deathly allergic to shellfish owning a restaurant on STJ probably wouldn’t be the best idea.

I would change the plates though. I am not sure why, but the plates there drive me nuts

That’s funny, I can picture the plates.

My favorite thing about The Lime Inn is their Strawberry Shortcake drink. YUM!

[chrisn]

Oh NO! It's my fave restaurant on STJ! I'm so sad! I just love Rich too!

[nuendelcapecod]

Am very sorry to hear this but won't the owners have a great appreciation for retirement? Such hard workers; hope the new owners keep Tyler behind the Ficus Bar.

[JohnM]

My 1st visit to STJ in 1994 included dinner at Lime Inn. Been there many times since then. Rich is just a great guy.

IMO, not having Lime Inn in STJ is comparable to not having Rick's in Casablanca.

[JohnM]

Some related thoughts.

1. Years back, Richie told me that he was involved in another seafood restaurant venture in northwestern NJ. We dined there once. Chesapeake Seafood, I think. Since closed.

2. While on Trunk Bay in the 90's, my mother-in-law (as m-i-l's can only do) struck up a conversation with someone sitting next to us. The gentleman said he was a cook at the Lime Inn, and if we had dinner there that night, he'd cook us up the biggest lobsters. Well, we went, and true to his word, he served up some massive bugs. (Not free, of course.)

Loved stumbling out of Lime Inn, then wandering across the street to Fred's. On more than one occasion, the "house band" was Inner Visions. Danced the night away.

[SheilaW1]

We were married on STJ and had our wedding dinner with family at Lime Inn in 2001. Ever since we make at least 2 visits to Lime Inn each time we are on island and have introduced family and friends accompanying us on several different visits to our absolute favorite STJ restaurant. Will be back for a week in Oct and soooo hope Rich and company are still there....
JohnM - we are from Long Valley, NJ where the Chesapeake Seafood Company was located. Missed when it was closed - great food!!! We had heard that one of the owners had a restaurant in the Caribbean which he had decided to run full time......when we ended up meeting Rich at Lime Inn in 2001 we realized he had been an owner of CSC.... small world....

[andee515]

My husband was a chef there, when we lived on St john; we will miss Rich. I hope he is still there for us to say goodbye at Christmas

[surfnh]

Well, good for them that they ran such a great business for so long, they earned a great retirement.

Honestly, $1.5mio for a business not including the building is pretty risky.