Chivitos
, subtitled Rum Bar & Satay Grill, which has operated on West End for 10 years, will close when its lease ends on Sept. 30, owner Tom Sheffer says. He added that he hopes to launch another Nashville-area restaurant in the future.
Sheffer's Green Apple Restaurant group also owns Jackson's in Hillsboro Village and four other restaurants in the Birmingham, Ala., area.
"We'll miss Rumba. I'm really proud of what we've done there," Sheffer said. He cited Rumba's location as one reason the company decided not to sign a five-year lease renewal."West End's great, but it's becoming more of a corporate thoroughfare," he said.
(Rumba is a small regional restaurant group, a member of the Nashville Originals independent restaurant organization, and we presume it doesn't have the deep pockets of some of the large chains that have staked out spots on bustling West End in recent years.)
Rumba's closing, announced to employees before dinner service Monday night, came as a bit of a shock to foodies and fans of the bar menu of lush, exotic cocktails.
