Reminsce Restaurant in Queens Quarter Closes

Loved that place--really disappointed to hear.

Bernie

another victim of wapa.

What a sad situation. They were great!

Hugo Hodge, what do you have to say?

yes, that is exactly correct "another victim" of wapa, i know personally why they closed and it was wapa alone, nothing else

to bad, great place it was

i see wapa crews out everyday with 2 peeps working and 6 peeps standing round with thumbs up azz

not to mention the absurd management... hospital as well

these people could not manage a lemonade stand let alone a power company and hospital

"sigh"

Such a shame, I really liked that place.
When I flew back to Az in Nov, I met one of the owners at the airport. she was telling me then that their WAPA bill was so high that she hoped they would make it. She was really concerned about the increases that were coming.

thats really sad to hear about another victim of wapa.

had a thought......what if we ALL decided not to pay our wapa bills.. course would be turned off, but if everyone didnt pay.

what would the tourists think? could embarass our goverment.

Face it, energy prices in the VI will never decrease and the government nor WAPA are going to do anything to alter that.
It is a fact of life here! Reminsce is yet another casualty of the economy.

I fear than many other restaurants will close due to traffic volumes and operating costs. It is a tough business and even more difficult on STX, especially in the off season.

gonetropo is correct. Hugo Hodge admitted (again) on WSTX a few weeks ago that at best, we can only look forward to a 20% decrease if and when they move to LPG or LNG or whatever. WAPA's LEAC exists only as a cover for the payment of all the governments WAPA bills.

Go solar or wind...fast.

The more places close and people leave, the higher the rates will go since WAPA will not reduce their personnel. It has become another form of welfare. Got to charge more to maintain the payroll.

... I've been there a few times... That is too bad... WAPA (td)

The more places close and people leave, the higher the rates will go since WAPA will not reduce their personnel. It has become another form of welfare. Got to charge more to maintain the payroll.

thia ia an absolutely GREAT point!!! my concern is how will it ever change,and from rumors i've heard{to add fuel to fire} a great majority of wapa workers find a way to get their elecricity free.:Xseems to me we are all getting screwed 3 ways...keeping the payrool going,footing the gov't and some workers free elec. and of course the leac.

Oh no - such a lovely place!

... I've been there a few times... That is too bad... WAPA (td)

I disagree. It is NOT WAPA's fault.

The reason that restaurants are closing is because not enough people go out to support the restaurants.

Crucians tend to flock to a place when it newly opens, then drop it like a hot potato.
This has been going on here long before high WAPA.

If every family with a car got off their duffs once a month and went out to have dinner somewhere, the restaurants would be fine.
We need to learn to support our own, and we'll all be fine. There was no need for a beautiful place like Reminisce to close.

The pastors in the local churches need to quit telling people that it is a mortal sin to go out and have a nice dinner in a restaurant, and that you will go to hell if you have a glass of wine. They are helping to kill the local economy, especially for people of color.

Just imagine the restaurant boom if all those Seventh Day Adventists were encouraged to go have dinner out on Friday/Saturday nights.

Loved that place--really disappointed to hear.

Bernie

In order for a restaurant like Reminisce to remain in business on St. Croix, it has to have the support of the ADULT, local community. The kids are going to hang out at The Lyme, or that place in the strip mall near Mountain Gas Station where I see hundreds of cars parked up every weekend. They want the rave parties, techno music, flashing lights, DJ's playing loud music.
The kids support their venues.

The adults...well that's another story. You can have the best chef, the best in live local entertainment, the most enchanting venue...and they simply will not leave the house. It's like someone flipped their fun switch to OFF.

Don't tell me they can't afford it...the same adults will spend $3,000.00 on a 70-inch TV so they can watch millionaire athletes chase a little ball around, and their monthly cellphone bills are more than they would pay for two dinners at a nice restaurant like Reminisce. A lot of them are flinging money away at the Casino, and when there is a cockfight at "The Coliseum" on Calquhon Road you can't even squeeze through there because of all the cars parked along both sides of the road, as people go spend good money to watch chickens scratch each other.

God help us, because we sure ain't helping ourselves.

I worked for a public electric utility company in the states and many friends and acquaintances assumed I received some type of discount on my electric bill, or got it for free, which of course I did not, so those type of rumours are not just an island thing. And I seriously doubt that the personnel payroll expenses are a significant contributor to our WAPA bills.

... I've been there a few times... That is too bad... WAPA (td)

I disagree. It is NOT WAPA's fault.

The reason that restaurants are closing is because not enough people go out to support the restaurants.

Crucians tend to flock to a place when it newly opens, then drop it like a hot potato.
This has been going on here long before high WAPA.

If every family with a car got off their duffs once a month and went out to have dinner somewhere, the restaurants would be fine.
We need to learn to support our own, and we'll all be fine. There was no need for a beautiful place like Reminisce to close.

The pastors in the local churches need to quit telling people that it is a mortal sin to go out and have a nice dinner in a restaurant, and that you will go to hell if you have a glass of wine. They are helping to kill the local economy, especially for people of color.

Just imagine the restaurant boom if all those Seventh Day Adventists were encouraged to go have dinner out on Friday/Saturday nights.

We go out every Saturday morning for breakfast and probably 3-4 times during the month to a few different restaurants. Seldom, if ever, do we see anyone we know other than the people we are with. So, I am in full agreement with you Native Son! It is even more important for the 'local' to patronize the restaurants in the off season, which is most of the time on STX.

... I've been there a few times... That is too bad... WAPA (td)

I disagree. It is NOT WAPA's fault.

I am a man of few words... I know it isn't entirely WAPA's fault, but it is a contributing factor.. So, please, do not jump to conclusions with what I posted...WAPA's power generating systems are mostly outdated, yet, the government has been slow to react in fixing it and now it has caught up with everybody...

Back to the topic, every time I hear a business closed in the VIs I feel bad about it. I lived there for over 5 years and had to leave a lot of good friends behind. It is sad to learn that, not only a business closed, but good people lost their jobs...

"The reason that restaurants are closing is because not enough people go out to support the restaurants.

Crucians tend to flock to a place when it newly opens, then drop it like a hot potato.
This has been going on here long before high WAPA."

Did you ever stop to think that maybe the reason they don't go out and support the restaurants is because they are trying to savce enough money to pay their TOO HIGH WAPA bills?

I imagine it's a combination of factors. But the reality is that the restaurant business is very hard. When Ric and my dad were buying and selling used restaurant equipment, it wasn't unusual for them to sell a restaurant equipment and then buy it back at an auction when the restaurant went out of business. There is a stat somewhere about start up restaurants and their longevity - it's not good.

"The reason that restaurants are closing is because not enough people go out to support the restaurants.

Crucians tend to flock to a place when it newly opens, then drop it like a hot potato.
This has been going on here long before high WAPA."

Did you ever stop to think that maybe the reason they don't go out and support the restaurants is because they are trying to savce enough money to pay their TOO HIGH WAPA bills?

No....that's not it.
They are not going out because somebody turned their fun switches to 'OFF'...they have money for other things that they like doing.
If we are not going to support our local businesses we should not be surprised when they close down.

If even half the adult population went out once a month for dinner, the restaurants would stay open. I don't want to stir up a hornet's nest, but the simple fact is that one segment of the population supports the restaurants that are run by their peers, and another segment of the population does not support the restaurants owned by their peers. This is having a detrimental effect as it trickles down to other people like musicians, etc. There is a lot going on here, but it will all become more obvious as things go from bad to worse.

I think this is true in part. We became friends with one or two restaurant owners and usually frequented their businesses. We felt comfortable and they were close to home. Like the Cheers song "Everybody knows your name." We ate out at least twice a week and sometimes 3 times.

native, a lot of people i know who used to go out to eat a few times a month can not do that due to the high cost of everything on island.

also they go where they know they will be safe. i had never been to this restaurant, but i hear the location was a nice one.

explain further which segments of the population go to support which restaurants

... Following Native Son and someone having " turned the fun switches to OFF " : pretty much describes what has happened with the end of Hovensa's long reign in the VI. The king is dead and it's too early to tell what the future will be because we're just begining to realize the dimensions of this change.

PT

It's more than WAPA! Restaurants close all the time in the upper 49. During the height of tourism there are empty tables here on STX. Anyone can open a restaurant and few do that have real experience. I have no expertise in the restaurant or hospitality business but i guess that would make me a good candidate to open a place like "cheers" on the island. On the business license application there should be a statement DREAMERS NEED NOT APPLY.