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22 Comments

cityscape

The Real Jerk Getting Evicted from Queen and Broadview

But curried goat hopefully not lost forever.

By Torontoist

Sad news for many in the east end today: longtime hangout The Real Jerk has to close up shop soon. The building’s been sold, reports Global, and the new owners have asked The Real Jerk to vacate by the end of the month. Real Jerk proprieters are hoping to reopen elsewhere in Leslieville, and are on the hunt for a new location. “It has been our distinct pleasure to be part of the Riverside neighbourhood and business community. We are committed to building our restaurant again and hope you will visit us as soon as we open our new doors. Our catering business will continue in the meantime with our regular phone number,” wrote Edward Pottinger on the resto’s Facebook page.

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Comments

  • Anonymous

    Boooooo.

  • IrishCooper

    One of the best restaurants and feel-good decor in T.O.

    Wherever “The Jerk” goes I will be their customer for the tastiest Caribbean food, Red Stripe beer in frosted mugs and friendly service.

    “Everything’s gonna be all right…”

  • Anonymous

    Could you guys start posting information about the property owners of these buildings? I keep seeing articles like this on many sites, and it’s always “the new owners” and “the previous owners,” yet the exact names of the eviction-notice-receiving business owners getting shafted are right there.

    These mysterious, ethereal Property Owners live in such a bubble, affecting whole neighborhoods with their decisions, so at least a name would be more than appropriate (as well as an email address, for the nasty emails i would write them suggesting that they might remember that they live in a society and not Sim City). More accountability is all i’d like.

    • Anonymous

      My first reaction was along the lines of “So the new owners, who have contributed nothing to the neighbourhood, are booting out a long-time…” but then I thought I might be overreacting, and it’s possible the new owners are upstanding members of the neighbourhood. Like Jilly’s.

      • http://twitter.com/ChrisDartCOTF Chris Dart

        Hey, you leave Jilly’s alone.

    • Lemon

      Does it matter? The new owners have the right to do what they want with their property (provided it is within municipal land use/zoning rules). If people are determined to stay on at a location in perpetuity, the need to buy the property themselves, otherwise they are always going to be at the mercy of the people who spent the money to buy the property. It is unfortunate that they have been given such short notice to move out, and I wish them the best, but they don’t have any god-given right to the space.

      • Anonymous

        Of course it matters; simply owning something doesn’t mean people won’t care what happens. It would matter to you if someone bought your apartment building and kicked you out, wouldn’t it? There’s also the community aspect – restaurants, bars, stores, venues, etc, which have been open for decades aren’t just businesses or zoned plots of land.

        • Lemon

          I would care that I was getting kicked out of my apartment, but as long as the rules were followed I wouldn’t expect anyone to be complaining that my new building owners were doing something wrong. I don’t mean to suggest that people shouldn’t care that a neighbourhood restaurant is closing down, I was responding to the comment that we should be publishing the names of the property owners as though they are villains. The previous owner no longer wanted to own the building, someone new wanted to buy it and they get to decide what they do with it. The restaurant owners and their clientele don’t have to be happy about it, but nothing illegal or unjust has happened. As long as you remain a renter, you at going to be somewhat at the mercy of property owners.

          • Anonymous

            It doesn’t have to be illegal or unjust to feel unjust to people, and they have the right to express that.

            Publishing the company name, if it’s known, should be done for thoroughness.

      • Anonymous

        Under conventional values, you’re absolutely right. I just happen to think that contributing to the community creates value and merits reward. I think capitalism is a means to an end and not something done for its own sake. I think extending the vote to landed immigrants should be a no-brainer, I think local landmarks positively contribute to the aggregate happiness of an urban population, and i think a successful business that’s been part of a neighborhood for 27 years should take precedence over the right of people to buy and sell any property they want.

        In the linked article, the owner of the building’s explanation for why he’s selling the property is “business is business,” which is just insultingly feeble, frankly. What if there were some kind of incentives program for property owners to maintain ownership of properties with successful small businesses? It would still be market-based, just in the favor of actual people and not faceless property owners who don’t even have the balls to evict people in person.

        • Lemon

          This wouldn’t just protect beloved local businesses but anyone who manages to pay their rent for long enough. To maintain vibrancy in a neighbourhood you also need to embrace change. I have no idea what the plans are for the space now that it has changed hands, but given other developments in the neighbourhood lately, I look forward to finding out. I hope that the owners of the Real Jerk are able to find a new location quickly and that they are successful for many more years, but I don’t think we need to start tweaking the tax code (or whichever means of incentives you are suggesting) to protect them.

        • Anonymous

          If by “contributing to the community” you mean running a business which charges people for goods and/or services then yes.

          But I think you need to re-evaluate what “contributing to a community” actually means.

  • Fred

    I stopped caring about the actual restaurant a long time ago, but the GRAPHICS ON THE BUILDING is what I will miss the most. The decor and atmosphere on the interior were also a source of many fond memories. BOOO

  • Anonymous

    Good riddance to bad attitude

  • Edward confessor

    we have a little lottery going bout how soon Jilly’s will be a boutique hotel. And the real jerk becomes a big lobby + teeny rat hole unit condo built by Great Gulf Holdings. How long before the coptic church on Broadview becomes a condo, too? bye, leslie…

    • Anonymous

      When we were living in the area about 5 years ago we had a pool going too. I found out that (apparently) the owner has been approached by the owner of the Drake a few times, but apparently he refuses to sell it. Something about the Hell’s Angel’s — This is all obviously he said/she said, but apparently that’s why it’s not been sold already.

      It would make a beautiful hotel, but I do like the fact that it’s still a strip club if for any reason, it bothers people that live in that horrid new condo building.

  • http://www.miroslavglavic.ca Miroslav Glavic

    Queen and Broadview IS NOT THE EAST END. East of Victoria Park is Toronto’s EAST end.
    I don’t know if you noticed but Etobicoke, East York, North York, York and Scarborough are part of Toronto now.

    • Anonymous

      Just because you say it doesn’t mean that is what people will mean when they use the term. Generally speaking, people refer to anything east of yonge as east, and contra-wise for west. It’s not very confusing.

      • Anonymous

        To be fair, there should be a distinction between East and East End.

        • Anonymous

          It’s called Scarborough

    • Anonymous

      But who says I’m going to “The Bluffs” in Toronto’s East End?

      Toronto’s east end is defined by Scarborough, East York etc.

  • frogger

    It saddens me to hear about the Real Jerk being evicted. Not only is it an institution in Toronto’s East End but it adds so much character to the rather rough corners of Queen & Broadview.And It will be even more disheartening to learn that they’ve been bullied out by condo developers who are changing the landscape of our city to cram as many people into their crumby little units as possible. However, I look forward to seeing the new location wherever it may be!