Mr. Manatee’s on Royal Palm Pointe, a longtime Vero restaurant known for its casual island atmosphere, has been purchased by Patrick Tomassi, owner of the Quilted Giraffe restaurant on U.S. 1.
Tomassi cut the deal with Chef’s International, Inc., a New Jersey company that also owned Jack Baker’s Lobster Shanty at the end of Royal Palm Pointe, which was sold and torn down last year to make way for the Quail Valley River Club expansion now nearing completion.
The company bought Mr. Manatee’s in 2002 and may have lost interest in the location after selling the much larger Lobster Shanty. Several other Vero restaurateurs expressed interest in acquiring Mr. Manatee’s when it was put up for sale earlier this year.
Mr. Manatee’s serves everything from Monday $5 burger specials and chicken wings to tuna steak, crab cakes, onion crusted dolphin and cracked conch.
The sale is expected to close at the end of the month, according to a Mr. Manatee’s employee. The restaurant’s casual seafood menu, island feel and staff are not expected to change.
The Quilted Giraffe – a long-established fine-dining restaurant that also holds receptions, weddings, tea parties, business luncheons, and on selected Sunday nights hosts the Theatre-Go-Round dinner theatre – has been owned by Tomassi for almost five years.