(Salisbury Daily Times)
Pocomoke City's Mallards on the River closed its doors permanently over the weekend.
Owner John "Johnny Mo" Morrison announced the closure on the restaurant's Facebook page Sunday, Jan. 13. The eatery opened in 2017 after taking over the $1 million restaurant building in downtown. Previously the building housed Riverside Grill.
"It is with extreme regret that I am announcing that we will be permanently closing our newest location, Mallards on the River on Sunday January 13, 2019," Morrison wrote in the Facebook post. "After a 13 month run it has proven to be unsuccessful. It is an accumulation of too many reasons to list, one of them being the long commute from Melfa, VA."
PPE FOOTNOTE:
Long before the time of the Riverside Grill and Mallards On The River a retired ferry boat, The Emerson C. Harrington, was brought to the north side of the river at Pocomoke City in 1938 and used as a hotel and restaurant.
4 comments:
Is this restaurant considered a failure now? Two different attempts now. Who will want to step in with the town (I think) still owning it? Countless times I drove by there and no one was there! This was doing times when you expect a happy hour or dinner crowd! How come Pocomoke can't get their act together to have a decent downtown? Snow Hill and Berlin both have their attractions and seem to have things going on that last...but not Pocomoke. Is it a matter of leadership?
If someone cares to research old records of this blog it will be found that I predicted this failure when this stupid idea was first raised several years ago. The Mayor and Council of Pocomoke have no business owning a restaurant just as Worcester County had no business running liquor stores. And to do it with a large grant from the federal government is a pure waste of taxpayer's money. A perfect example of why a large part of our government should be shut down permanently.
Your friend,
Slim
With good intentions the city took a gamble. Let's hope somehow things can work out in the future. Maybe our local business and civic organizations could join in (a committee?) with ideas.
"Hell is full of good intentions or desires."
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
or maybe
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
Unknown
It is not the purpose of government to take gambles. It is the job of municipal government to provide local services that cannot be legally provided otherwise such as water, sewerage, police protection and streets. Food services and entertainment are best left to those who have some expertise in these areas and who are willing to take the financial risk without burdening taxpayers with it. The best thing the Mayor and Council can do for their constituents is to sell this turkey as soon as possible. Yes, there will be a loss but it will be minor compared to the loss of money and good will if this idiocy continues.
Your friend,
Slim
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