Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Arigato steakhouse coming to Albert Whitted

Diners will see takeoffs and landings and hear pilot-tower communications.

By Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer
Published February 24, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - An aviation-theme restaurant touting moderate prices, international cuisine and unparalleled views of the city's busiest runway is one step closer to opening at Albert Whitted Airport.

After nearly two years of heated contract negotiations, the City Council approved a five-year lease agreement Thursday with Arigato Japanese Steak House, a family-run local chain.

"We have all just been anxious to have it up and running," said City Council Chairman Jamie Bennett. "I think it is going to be great for all the pilots who like to fly into town. It is going to be great food."

The restaurant will provide views of the airport's main runway and allow diners to listen to the air traffic control tower directing pilots.

Still, it is unlikely that the restaurant will open soon.

The dining area will occupy the second floor of the terminal, which is mostly bare.

Dale DelBello, owner of the Arigato chain, will need to submit construction plans to the city, then remodel the space and outfit it with kitchen equipment.

The long awaited lease settlement was hailed by airport leaders, who once feared the stalled negotiations would leave the terminal mostly vacant.

Discussions with DelBello began in 2006, but when the $4-million terminal opened in November, only one vendor occupied the two-story building.

St. Petersburg Flying Service sat alone on the first floor of the 10,000-square-foot terminal for nearly two months before Avis Rent A Car System LLC was added shortly after.

"It was a lot of government bureaucracy that slowed it down," said Jack Tunstill, chairman of the Albert Whitted Advisory Committee and a flight instructor at the airport.

The restaurant was always intended to be a big draw to the airport, Tunstill said.

"It is what will get people in the door," he said. "Not having a restaurant was like having the Pier without the Columbia in it or the aquarium. You think, gee that is a nice looking building but there is nothing to do."

But city officials say it isn't their fault vendors did not accept the original drafts of the lease agreements.DelBello will pay the city $54,144 in annual rent, according to the contract.

This will be Dale DelBello's fourth restaurant in the Tampa Bay area.

Bennett said the council is considering amending the restaurant lease in the near future.

"We have told the staff to stop bringing us these five year leases," Bennett said. "It is a huge investment. This man is putting in a bunch of equipment."

The council also approved a five-year lease agreement with Bay Air Charter Thursday.

The charter service, which will occupy half of a retail counter on the first floor of the terminal, must pay the city $1,773 a year for rent, plus $100 per month for utilities.

Bay Air, an existing tenant at the airport, will also maintain the hangar space that it currently occupies.

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727 893-8846 or csilva@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 25, 2008, 07:16:02]