Looks like Red Bank won’t be getting an Artichoke Basille’s Pizza restaurant after all.
A painting of the Kennedy brothers was displayed in the window for months while renovations were underway. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The New York City-based franchise posted a “for sale” sign in the window of its space at 177 Broad Street Wednesday, more than two years after announcing an imminent arrival.
Co-owner Francis Garcia did not immediately respond to a redbankgreen request for information.
The three-storefront building, also home to the Red Bank Diner and Red Bank Cleaners, is unusual in that it’s a commercial condominium, with each space independently owned.
Plans to open the 1,800-square-foot restaurant were announced in October, 2020, with an anticipated opening by Christmas. The store was to have become the chain’s 16th, and the second in New Jersey, following one in Hoboken.
But for most of the ensuing 26 months, the windows of the space were covered over in brown paper, with two openings: one was a display for a leg-shaped lamp. The other was filled with a painting of the late President John Kennedy and his two brothers, senators Robert and Teddy Kennedy.
According to a 2016 report by Bushwick Daily, the image is a copy of an original painting done by Garcia’s great-grandfather, and was displayed at every Artichoke Basille location.
Now, the painting and surrounding paper have been removed, revealing a partially completed renovation.
The space was last occupied by Pacini’s Pizzeria, which vacated in July, 2019.
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