Many businesses have fallen victim to the COVID-19 economy and as result been forced to close down. Consequently, Boca Raton’s popular music venue the Funky Biscuit will close, at least temporarily, at the end of the month, due to lost revenue attributed to the pandemic.
The Funky Biscuit which reopened for memorial day will end a nearly 10-year run as one of most frequented and and most beloved stages in South Florida for nationally touring and local musicians.
To end with a bang, the venue will host their final concert entitled “It’s Not Farewell…It’s Just So Long For Now,” Featuring local music icons including Albert Castiglia, JP Soars, Jeff Lloyd, Mark Telesca and Richie Schmidt.
The sold out show will take place on August 31 at 7 p.m.
Owner Albert Poliak did not let the Funky Biscuit go out without a fight. Beginning Memorial Day weekend, the Funky Biscuit was among the first South Florida venues to offer live shows under Phase 1 reopening guidelines for restaurants and bars.
According to the Sun Sentinel, thousands of dollars were spent to sanitize, refinish bars, replace carpets and reorient seating the new half-capacity audience and reopening.
Poliak said the close was due in part to an 80 percent loss of revenue during the past three months and his landlord who simultaneously was seeking rent.
“It was not sustainable right now,” he says. “We tried pioneering this whole thing … but people are still just not coming out.”
Poliak’s Facebook announcement of the closing drew hundreds of Facebook comments, emails, and voicemail messages that filled his inbox.
Additionally, testimonials flooded in from fans of the club both nationally and internationally, as well as from musicians for whom Poliak, also a keyboardist, is both a respected club owner and idol.
The kind messages not only warmed Poliak’s heart, they gained the attention of Boca Raton real-estate entrepreneur James Batmasian of Investments Limited, owner of the Royal Palm Place building that houses the Funky Biscuit. As a result they expressed a willingness on Tuesday to adjust Poliak’s rent payments.
“He’s graciously agreed to work with us. He wants me to remain open,” Poliak says. “We’re hoping that with his help and some other things, that we can be back open sooner rather than later. … It’s not farewell. It’s so long for now. This is not the end of our story.”
The Funky Biscuit will continue to showcase live music through the end of the month. For more information, visit https://www.funkybiscuit.com/.