Get it to Go
From the silverware to the barstools, everything at the West Palm restaurant is on the menu.
Photo by Isabel Garcia
Couples on first dates often buy their barstools to
commemorate the evening.
At Bizaare Avenue Café, everything is for sale—the art on the walls, couches, plates and even the restaurant itself. In fact, the café feels more like your grandmother’s living room, with eccentric ornaments littering small side tables and comfortable looking chairs and couches that beckon you to sit in them.
Al Salopek, owner of the café, got his idea for a combined antique store and restaurant after selling his Italian restaurant and being unsure about wanting to stay in the food service industry.
“I thought I would open up an antique store, but I didn’t see much money in that,” Salopek says. Instead, he decided to combine what he knew with what he liked—restaurants and antiques. The name comes from the word ‘bazaar’ and the ‘bizarre’ nature of the restaurant.
The first Bizaare Avenue Café opened in Lake Worth in 1996; a second followed two years later in Jupiter. However, that location was sold recently after a woman walked in and asked to buy it.
“She knew our concept, and since everything is for sale, we sat down and worked out a contract,” Salopek says.
The most popular items sold are small knickknacks, sculptures and piggy banks that range in price from $6 to $60.
“People who are on their first date usually buy the barstools to remember the night,” Salopek says.
The restaurant has a storeroom that houses items to replace what customers have bought since things inside the restaurant are constantly moving and changing.