Remember earlier this year? When I wrote something like “Lynn’s Paradise Cafe Closes After 22 Years“. Yeah, well I should have called it then and written it in my original blog post, but I didn’t. Here we are almost a year later, and we are still talking about Lynn Winter and her Paradise Cafe, a landmark restaurant in The Highlands of Louisville, KY. Only this time there is talk of reopening.
I heard three or four times over the summer that “someone’s buying Lynn’s Paradise Cafe”. No one actually has bought it, and the last thing I heard was that Lynn wanted too much money for the place and nobody would ever pay her that much! Well, the Courier Journal spoke with Lynn Winter and learned a lot of interesting information. Let me break it down for you.
1 | Lynn Winter told the Courier Journal that she is currently speaking with four potential buyers who are interested in buying the Lynn’s Paradise Cafe brand and building, and operating the restaurant under the same theme and quirky premise.
2 | The new owner could be chosen as early as the end of the month.
3 | Although there will be an agreement in place that the new owner not deviate from the theme, certain menu items, and other unique facets of Lynn’s Paradise Cafe; hiring and labor policies will be up to the new owner.
4 | The liquor license for Lynn’s Paradise Cafe has already been renewed through 2014.
5 | According to the CJ article, Winter has spent around $400,000 renovating the Highlands restaurant since she closed it.
Winter goes on to clear up some of the reasons for closing. She said that the labor dispute about servers bringing a $100 bank to work had nothing to do with closing, but that she had two heart attacks before the restaurant closed and needed to focus on her health.
I would like to go on record and say that I hope someone does reopen this famous Louisville restaurant. I think the Highlands would be happier. At least the Highlands business owners surrounding Lynn’s Paradise Cafe would be happier. Some neighboring shop owners have reported substantial business loss since Lynn’s closed. Whether you like Lynn Winter or not, I think we can all agree that Lynn’s Paradise Cafe has done a lot for the Louisville economy and reopening it would certainly bring a boost back to the area.
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