Mall sues to evict Wild Wings Grill

By Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer
Published March 6, 2008

PORT RICHEY - You can get a basket of 12 wings at the Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar at Gulf View Square for $7.99.

So if we do a little math, it appears Buffalo Wild Wings needs to sell 14,322 baskets to pay the $114,431.78 the mall says it owes in back rent and sales tax. That's why Gulf View Square is trying to evict the tenant, according to a lawsuit filed in Pinellas-Pasco circuit court against the franchise's owner, Suncoast Restaurants LLC.

Buffalo Wild Wings opened at the mall in June 2004. But the suit says it hasn't paid the $15,688.84 in rent and sales tax due on the first of each month since July 2007.

The franchise also ignored a Jan. 29 letter demanding that it pay in full or get out, according to the suit. Simon Property Group, the mall's parent company, declined to comment on the case Wednesday. No one from Buffalo Wild Wings or Suncoast Restaurants returned calls for comment.

Buffalo Wild Wings is still open in the mall with eight big projection TVs. You can still get 10 percent off your order with a mall receipt - but then it would take 15,915 baskets to pay the mall off.

[Last modified March 5, 2008, 21:56:54]