UPDATE: Bravo Is Not Closed

Posted on May 6, 2016 | 35 Comments

Last Saturday, Bravo was closed. There was no one inside. No sign outside. No one answered the phone.

Now they’re open again.

So noted.

Bravo logo

 

This entry was posted in Restaurants and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

35 responses to “UPDATE: Bravo Is Not Closed”

  1. carolsampson | May 6, 2016 at 8:47 pm |

    How about a real apology. I understand that you actually hurt their business. You should do research before placing such a post.

    • Dan Woog | May 6, 2016 at 8:59 pm |

      Carol, they were closed on Saturday — the busiest day of the week. No one answered the phone. No one from the restaurant called me this week to dispute the story. I really don’t know what kind of “research” you wanted me to do.

    • Keith Walters | May 6, 2016 at 8:59 pm |

      Agree. I love your blog but you really should be more careful and thoughtful about what you post before you put it out there for public consumption.

    • Seth Schacter | May 6, 2016 at 9:33 pm |

      I agree with Dan and the others Carol. I personally do not feel Dan owes anyone an apology. The fact of the matter — last Saturday night, Bravo was indeed closed and there was no note on the door. Very odd for a business to do this on any night, let alone the busiest night of the week. I agree with one of the responses that there is probably more to the story. As Dan stated, the restaurant did not reach out to him to dispute the story. Dan certainly does more than his share of supporting local restaurants.

  2. Tom Prince | May 6, 2016 at 8:58 pm |

    You should dial it down. People like to know which restaurants they can depend on.

  3. Beth Orlan Berkowitz | May 6, 2016 at 9:04 pm |

    Did anyone ever find out what actually happened to Bravo and why it closed temporarily? Sounds kind or odd that they would close and have no one there and no sign on the door or anything and then just are open again. There has to be more to this story.

  4. Sharon Paulsen | May 6, 2016 at 9:11 pm |

    Hmm, well, I don’t know jack about this restaurant, and haven’t dined in Westport for so long now, but, with all due respect, I got the impression that Dan was simply posting the fact that they were, in fact, closed last weekend (or perhaps just Saturday, as he observed), and so, the only “hurt” caused was by the owners themselves.

    A restaurant owner doesn’t just turn off the lights, lock the doors, or offer no response (or voice message) to phone calls or inquiries, if they were doing business.
    If they had an emergency or other issue, a sign posted at the door would also be the obvious action. So …
    If there’s a backstory to this closure, perhaps restaurant owners could s’plain, via social media (ahem, on 06880 for one) … huh, Lucy?
    (sheesh).

  5. Sharon Paulsen | May 6, 2016 at 9:19 pm |

    BTW, my comment was intended to be in response to CarolSampson’s directly … I didn’t post quite fast enough (nor did I reply to her comment specifically – my bad).

  6. Peter Blau | May 6, 2016 at 9:24 pm |

    Aren’t there two Bravo restaurants side by side? Or does it just look like that because of confusing signage? If two places, were both closed when Dan wrote the original piece?

    As for all the finger waggers here, Dan is quite the friend to local business. He goes out of his way to say positive things, so unfair of critics to say otherwise.

    And if the restaurant owner were on his or her toes, all they’d have to do is give Dan a shout and he’d correct it right away.

    • Dan Woog | May 6, 2016 at 9:29 pm |

      Thanks, Peter. And yes, there are 2 restaurants, next to each other. Bravo (pizza/Italian) was first. Then in came Rio Bravo (Mexican), part of a small chain. They have nothing to do with each other, though it is quite confusing (and quite avoidable, had Rio Bravo not decided to locate next to Bravo).

    • David Sampson | May 6, 2016 at 9:40 pm |

      Peter, I know he tries to be a friend to local businesses, but my gosh, he is human and can make a mistake which hurt this local business.

  7. David Sampson | May 6, 2016 at 9:32 pm |

    Response to Dan: Bravo closed for one night because of a burst pipe in the kitchen and evidently staff did not think to put a sign on the door to that effect. Without checking into the situation more closely you posted a blog that to my mind suggested that they permanently closed.

    What could you have done before posting? I believe that when Bravo opened you noted that it was the same ownership as Julian’s Pizza in Saugatuck. Thus a call to them would have been in order to ask what happened at Bravo staurday. Furthermore, your post had some snide remarks about the service etc.

    People do depend upon your blog for reliable information and in this case you booted it. We clamor for local ownership in Westport, we want to support locally owned businesses, and here is a case where a little caution would have gone a long way. The business suffered this week and I think your tepid post above was really weak.

    • Sharon Paulsen | May 6, 2016 at 9:53 pm |

      An unexplained closure of a restaurant can be instant death to that type of business.

      Bravo apparently did not explain this “burst pipe” issue a week ago. (via Signage, voice mail message on phone, social media reach-out).

      Dan’s post did not state anything but the facts of last weekend’s observation.

      Any other restaurant-seeking patron would have drawn a similar conclusion. (Basically … WTF?)

      And a restaurant owner should know better about the consequences of an unexplained closure during prime time.

      So please folks, lay off Dan. He’s just reporting. I find the intel and pulse of the community informative and interesting.

  8. Tom Prince | May 6, 2016 at 9:42 pm |

    This is ridiculous. Dan didn’t “boot” anything. Try whining instead in the direction of the staff who “did not think” to post a sign.

    • David Sampson | May 6, 2016 at 9:48 pm |

      I guess Dan is god and never errs.

      • Tom Prince | May 6, 2016 at 9:56 pm |

        Dan keeps people informed. And that’s more than anyone at Bravo had the courtesy or sense to do.

  9. Nancy Hunter Wilson | May 6, 2016 at 9:49 pm |

    Mistakes happen.

  10. Beth Orlan Berkowitz | May 6, 2016 at 10:00 pm |

    In response to the Sampson’s, I believe instead of blasting Dan, and his blog, and asking him for an apology, maybe an apology from the Bravo owners to the community and to Dan, would be best.

    Obviously, they slipped up and didn’t make a note or an announcement to anyone that they had to close their doors due to a leak, just for one night. If their business suffered at all it was due to their lack of notice and their lack of reaching out to Dan and other ways to contact the public to let everyone know.

    Stop slamming Dan, as he has always been quick to correct any errors in his blog, once pointed out. If you want to speak for Bravo, then you should have explained directly/privately to Dan and asked him to publish the correct information that the owners and staff had failed to put a note on the door or in the window as they were leaving or as soon as they had realized their mistake in not putting a note up.

    Please stop pointing fingers here.

    • Sharon Paulsen | May 6, 2016 at 10:31 pm |

      Exactly Berkowitz, Agree!

    • Seth Schacter | May 6, 2016 at 10:35 pm |

      Spot on Beth! Yes……agree, Sampson’s should ease up on the Dan Blasting — although I’m guessing Dan got a smile out of being called ‘God’.
      I was at Bravo last Saturday and all the signs (no pun intended) pointed to the restaurant going under- closed on a Saturday night, lights all off, doors locked, no sign in the window indicating work being done, nobody inside etc.

  11. Dick Lowenstein | May 6, 2016 at 10:26 pm |

    Where is Bravo?

  12. Jerry MacDaid | May 6, 2016 at 11:21 pm |

    Look everyone, Dan is not a journalist. He publishes a blog. And like most bloggers, the normal standards of journalism should not be expected.

    Dan’s blog is entertaining and often informative. Lots of interesting things about Westport. Very supportive posts on things that he likes. More than happy to throw gas on the fire, if not toss Molotov cocktails to start the fire on things he does not like. Careless on things that he is indifferent or mildly annoyed about. If collateral damage or unintended consequences follow, well, that sort of comes with the territory. Dan is sort of our own local, liberal, Rush Limbaugh, though a Rush that occasionally “sort of” apologizes with a breezy “my bad” or “so noted”.

    What, exactly, do you otherwise expect? The Washington Post? No, we come here for entertainment, local feel good stories and Dan’s “hot takes” on subjects rather than investigative journalism. Maybe for reinforcement of our views. Maybe to rant against differing views. Maybe for occasional semi-rational debate. Maybe we have a train wreck fetish. Maybe because Canada is so freaking boring. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don’t, but if we didn’t find whatever it is interesting, we wouldn’t keep coming back.

    Enjoy!

  13. Daniel Katz | May 7, 2016 at 5:22 am |

    Why in any way, is it or was it Dan’s job to make up for the unthinkable stupidity and lack of consideration on behalf of Bravo managers to leave the public hanging with no sign on the door….Any loss of business comes, I’m sure, from such oversight and, of course, from some of the dissatisfactions with the operation expressed after the original “closed” article.

  14. Michael Calise | May 7, 2016 at 8:19 am |

    Dan’s blog is a treasure to all of us that know it but realistically what percentage of the restaurant customer community checks his blog before they choose to go out to eat. If business is off for Bravo I suspect its for some other more compelling reason

  15. Stephanie Bass | May 7, 2016 at 9:46 am |

    Really? This is important to all you people? And why is that broad from Canada constantly giving 06880 people her opinion? Can we vote her of the island?

    • Nancy Hunter Wilson | May 7, 2016 at 10:09 am |

      Sure, if the caption “Where Westport Meets the World” is changed to
      “Where Today’s Xenophobic Westporters Meet” (which, by the way, is not how it felt when I lived there).

      • Peter Blau | May 8, 2016 at 7:11 am |

        “Well, blame Canada, blame Canada
        It seems that everything’s gone wrong
        Since Canada came along
        Blame Canada, blame Canada
        They’re not even a real country anyway”

        • Nancy Hunter Wilson | May 8, 2016 at 10:55 am |

          “We must blame them and cause a fuss
          Before somebody thinks of blaming us!”

  16. Jesse Hart | May 7, 2016 at 11:11 am |

    How many of you where planning to eat at Bravo that night?

  17. Dick Lowenstein | May 7, 2016 at 5:36 pm |

    Still waiting…….where is Bravo

  18. Beth Orlan Berkowitz | May 7, 2016 at 5:39 pm |

    Bravo is on post road east near pier one.

  19. Jennifer Rankine | May 7, 2016 at 9:56 pm |

    With all due respect to Dan’s blog, Bravo’s owner probably doesn’t even know about it to comment on it. There was a problem with plumbing and they meant to put a sign up, but somebody got busy with another issue and forgot. I don’t think Bravo’s owner or Dan owes a public apology to anyone. We all make mistakes, so if no-one was horribly put-out by this one-day event maybe we can just forgive the oversight and move on. My dining experience at Bravo has always been thoroughly enjoyable, and I know on several occasions when asked they generously supported the Staples hockey team with donations to the Booster Club. They are good, hard-working people in a difficult business working 7 days a week and I, for one, look forward to returning to their restaurant and wish them well.

  20. Jeff Arciola | May 8, 2016 at 10:17 am |

    Keep up the good work Dan. You don’t owe a apology.