Hospitality legend sells riverside bar after ‘nightmare’ process
Legendary Queensland restaurateur Andy Georges has sold his waterfront bar and is leaving the hospitality industry after 50 memorable years, but it hasn’t been an easy farewell.
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Legendary Queensland restaurateur Andy Georges has sold his waterfront bar and is leaving the hospitality industry after 50 memorable years.
Mr Georges and wife Marcia quietly sealed the deal on their Mr & Mrs G Riverbar on Monday night.
“It’s the end of an era, but also a relief,” Mr Georges, 75, said.
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“Trying to sell a Brisbane venue with a ‘wet’ lease is a nightmare; waiting for approvals from government and council, all you’re doing is paying lawyers.”
The Georges opened their Eagle Street Pier bar in 2012 as an adjunct to landmark Italian noshery Il Centro, home of the famous sandcrab lasagne since 1992 and a favourite haunt of corporate highfliers and celebrities including Beyonce and Matthew McConaughey.
They sold Il Centro in 2017 to neighbouring restaurateur John Kilroy, who also owns Cha Cha Char and Jellyfish. None of the three has reopened since COVID-19 temporarily shuttered restaurants in March.
The Courier-Mail can reveal the new owner of Mr & Mrs G is private Queensland-based company KTITA, whose co-director Chris Higgins worked for Mr Kilroy for more than 10 years.
Mr Georges said offloading the bar came with mixed emotions.
“It’s been a good run – when I started in hospitality in 1970 cappuccinos cost 20 cents and a dozen oysters $2.50 – but it’s time to play more golf and take up painting.”
He said while COVID-19 didn’t affect their decision to sell, he feared for other CBD operators into next year as staff came off JobKeeper payments and rent relief disappeared.
“Many will be placed in an impossible situation, particularly with killer penalty rates (for staff), and with stockbrokers and bankers too scared to take clients out for lunch.”
Ditching an accounting career as a “young buck”, Mr Georges bought into his wife’s family’s restaurant empire.
Marcia Georges’ Greek immigrant father Michael Karlos opened a string of enduring CBD cafes in the 1950s and ’60s, including Carolena and Cubana, and the fancy Camelia Restaurant, renowned for its lobster mornay and flaming Bombe Alaska dessert.
The family kept the Cubana until 1990 and Mr and Mrs Georges’ decided to branch out on their own.
“We did a few overseas trips and brought back ideas and Il Centro became a great success story,” he said.
“The main reason was hard work, but we always had a good team and longstanding employees including chef Gillian Hirst who introduced the sandcrab lasagne, Zahir Meher-Homji, and Shawn Gomes who now manages Donna Chang.”
Mr Georges said his greatest sadness was saying goodbye to suppliers of more than 30 years but he was grateful for “making a lot of lifelong friends”.
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