Gonzmart to buy iconic Longboat Key restaurant property
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 27, 2016

Tampa restaurateur Richard Gonzmart's next project is a waterfront restaurant on Longboat Key.

Gonzmart, president of Columbia Restaurant Group, will close on Pattigeorge's at 4120 Gulf of Mexico Drive, on Tuesday, reports The Longboat Observer.

A Columbia Restaurant Group spokesman confirmed the report and said Gonzmart is buying only the property, not the restaurant brand. According to the Observer, the plans will have a historic tie to Longboat Key and are not related to any of Gonzmart's existing concepts.

In April, Gonzmart told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that he had two potential waterfront sites for new concepts. He said he is looking to revive two "easily recognized," family-style seafood concepts, though he declined to disclose either at the time.

In addition to the Columbia, an Ybor City anchor since 1905, Gonzmart owns Tampa Heights' Ulele, which has a native Florida-inspired menu, as well as Cha Cha Coconuts, a tropical-inspired seafood restaurant in Sarasota.

He's also working to revive Goody Goody, slated to open the third week of August in Hyde Park Village. Other plans include a market and a new Sicilian restaurant in Ybor City.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.