The Grove restaurant in Kailua abruptly closed in December after offering Groupon discounts for sale.
The recording at the restaurant’s phone number invites people to leave reservation requests after the beep, and offers the option to book online via OpenTable.com. Callers are not able to leave messages as the voicemail box is full. Also, The Grove is no longer listed on OpenTable.com.
The restaurant had undergone an ownership change earlier in the year, with original owners Fred DeAngelo, wife Cheryl, sister Brandy Antonelis and brother-in-law Troy transferring ownership to four new owners, DeAngelo told the Star-Advertiser.
"They bought the debt," he said.
State business registration records show the new owners are Edward McLaurin, Matt Forner, Nicholas Maddocks and George Antonelis, whose relationship to Troy and Brandy could not be established, nor could any of the Antonelis family members be reached by phone.
Customers who purchased Groupon discounts are entitled to full refunds, Fred DeAngelo said.
He has been approached for refunds by would-be Grove customers, thinking he was still involved with the Kailua restaurant.
"If you go to Groupon, you’re going to get your full purchase price (back), you’re not losing any money," he said.
His statement is confirmed by the Groupon website, which says if a business closes permanently, the company will always honor refund requests for unredeemed Groupons, once the business confirms it has closed.
The business entity The Grove LLC was transferred to the new owners in July in exchange for the new owners’ takeover of the restaurant business’s obligations.
"They tried to continue what we set forth, what we felt was exciting and great for Kailua, but it didn’t work out for them," DeAngelo said.
While neither of the DeAngelos nor Troy or Brandy Antonelis had been involved in the Grove’s operations since the transfer, DeAngelo is an experienced chef and restaurateur who owns Ola at Turtle Bay, which will mark its 10th anniversary in November.
"We had no stake in how (The Grove) was run, or unfortunately, for how they were handling our crew" in the months since the transfer, he said.
