London Lennie’s had been listed for lease or sale as a potential development site. (Loopnet)
Oct. 24, 2019. By Shane O’Brien
The owner of London Lennie’s, a popular seafood restaurant in Rego Park that was listed for sale in May, has said that it will remain open for “the next 60 years.”
Les Barnes, the restaurant’s owner, penned an open later to the community on London Lennie’s Facebook page last week saying that it wasn’t going anywhere.
“For the past 60 years, my family and I have been serving the community with the finest and freshest seafood. We will carry on the tradition for the next 60 years,” the post read.
News surfaced in May that the restaurant at 63-88 Woodhaven Blvd. had been listed at $6.5 million. However, Barnes quelled fears that the restaurant would be closing down in a recent interview with the Forest Hills Times where he said that he was only ever “exploring the value of the property.”
He told the news outlet that word of the restaurant’s closure was blown out of proportion.
Barnes told the Forest Hills Times that he received calls from around America when word spread about its listing and that he felt he had to put an end to rumors.
“We received calls from California and Florida, and people wanted to come in since they heard we were ‘closing’,” Barnes told the outlet. “I also heard that we were closed and we will redevelop the place. We had to put an end to the rumors.”
London Lennie’s was founded by Barnes’ father Leonard in 1959 and has become a stalwart of the Rego Park community. The Forest Hills Times reports that it serves 140,000 meals annually.
