PJ's Closes In Sosua

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Ken

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It appears that PJ's restaurant is closing. Anther casualty of the down turn in tourism. I wonder how much longer La Roca will last. When John left, business was down, but he had a loyal following. It appears to be down more now.

Baileys appears to me to be the only restaurant in town that is doing well.

Sosua certainly doesn't lack for bars and restaurants, but still people are coming to Sosua believing they can get rich in the restaurant/bar business. There would have to be a huge upturn in order to support all these bars and restaurants.
 
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Ringo

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Ken said:
It appears that PJ's restaurant is closing. Anther casualty of the down turn in tourism. I wonder how much longer La Roca will last. When John left, business was down, but he had a loyal following. It appears to be down more now.

Baileys appears to me to be the only restaurant in town that is doing well.

Sosua certainly doesn't lack for bars and restaurants, but still people are coming to Sosua believing they can get rich in the restaurant/bar business. There would have to be a huge upturn in order to support all these bars and restaurants.
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Was it 15 years ago I looked at buying PJs for US $25K. Run down back then but had a great menu at a fair price and could not beat the location. We would eat there 3 nights a week. My wife would say... buy it next year. lol. Time passes and the place changed. New owner? Food was terrible, prices high but still for sale; again. US $1.5 million when I asked 5 ? years ago. We went back a couple of times and the food was still terrible with high prices. Service was none.

La Roca, IMO, was ALWAYS a rip off even if you knew which menu to ask for.

In short. People invested and got greedy. Some very greedy! Baileys? No comment.

It is NOT the lack of patrons. It is the lack of good management and marketing to not only the tourist BUT those that live here.

Ringo
 
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Eddy

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Ringo said:
Was it 15 years ago I looked at buying PJs for US $25K.
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I'm sure that was for a lease. The 1.5 big ones are for the property but a rediculous price. It's considered historical as is La Roca. The owners of both are doomed to keep it the way it is.
 
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Kyle

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i use to love that lunch special at PJ's. there was a window on the side street you ordered from. i think it was 100 pesos....
 
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Eddy

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Kyle said:
i use to love that lunch special at PJ's. there was a window on the side street you ordered from. i think it was 100 pesos....
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Yeap a lotta people also did. It seems the sales weren't sufficient to cover the rent and expenses. I think we will see a few more businesses close down this summer. The owners of different businesses, mostly Dominicans, are charging a way to much rent for their properties, I feel sorry for the people who invested their savings but I hope that once closed, the will be unable ro rent them again. It happened to a couple of places. One was getting over 1,000 US a nonth for something not worth 500, When the renuwal date came along, the tenant asked for a reduction in rent of 500. The counter offer was a raise to 1200. The guy left and now the place has been collecting dust for over a year. Greed on the part of those Dominican property owners have forced the high prices in the restaurants and bars. The poor guy who operates it get's blamed fot trying to make a few $$.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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Eddy said:
One was getting over 1,000 US a nonth for something not worth 500, When the renuwal date came along, the tenant asked for a reduction in rent of 500. The counter offer was a raise to 1200. The guy left and now the place has been collecting dust for over a year.
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LOL!

But he'll hold out for $1500, because, based on Dominican logic, he lost money while the property was vacant...
 
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mike l

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They upped the price to $130 RD an a new place opened up accross the street with fried chicken and then they expanded but they charge 150 for a dr lunch so I go to charamicos and have a sit down lunch for $100 RD
 
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Kyle

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pico pollo my friend, pico pollo. and the other place across the road where they chop up the pig for you. both are by the texaco station....:D
 
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rafael

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cobraboy said:
LOL!

But he'll hold out for $1500, because, based on Dominican logic, he lost money while the property was vacant...
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Sounds like one of my ex landlords. Rented the apt at 20k pesos. My fault but didn't notice the 10% annual rent increase in the contract. Not a big deal the first year, when it went to 22000, next year 24200, got me thinking. The 3rd time was after the worldwide finacial crisis. I called the abogado that handled the apt. I said, no way I am going to pay over 26600 in rent when people were having a hard time getting tenants. I actually was dumb enough to say if the rent stays the same I will stay, because I hate moving. She was even dumber and said no.

I told her there was no way in heck the place would rent for 26k pesos. She swore it would. An apt in the same building one floor up was available. 20k pesos. Same exact size and layout. The lawyer insisted that she was going to get 26k pesos. I said she was nuts. She asked if I wanted to bet. I said sure how much? She said 10k pesos. I said, lets make it 10k USD. She said she doesn't gamble. . . .lol. .

I told her the apt would be vacant for at least a year. Sure enough vacant for over a year. New tenants moved in. Rent? 20k pesos.

The lawyer actually looked like she preferred the place be empty so she can get her one month commission. The lawyers rarely have the property owners best interests at heart.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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rafael said:
Sounds like one of my ex landlords. Rented the apt at 20k pesos. My fault but didn't notice the 10% annual rent increase in the contract. Not a big deal the first year, when it went to 22000, next year 24200, got me thinking. The 3rd time was after the worldwide finacial crisis. I called the abogado that handled the apt. I said, no way I am going to pay over 26600 in rent when people were having a hard time getting tenants. I actually was dumb enough to say if the rent stays the same I will stay, because I hate moving. She was even dumber and said no.

I told her there was no way in heck the place would rent for 26k pesos. She swore it would. An apt in the same building one floor up was available. 20k pesos. Same exact size and layout. The lawyer insisted that she was going to get 26k pesos. I said she was nuts. She asked if I wanted to bet. I said sure how much? She said 10k pesos. I said, lets make it 10k USD. She said she doesn't gamble. . . .lol. .

I told her the apt would be vacant for at least a year. Sure enough vacant for over a year. New tenants moved in. Rent? 20k pesos.

The lawyer actually looked like she preferred the place be empty so she can get her one month commission. The lawyers rarely have the property owners best interests at heart.
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Happens all the time, rafael. It is what it is. There is a point where arguing and negotiating accomplishes nothing.

I hear from a couple landlords that they WILL, in fact, negotiate with gringos over such points because gringos tend to pay their rent on time, no excuses. But those folks are few and far between...
 
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FritoBandito

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cobraboy said:
Happens all the time, rafael. It is what it is. There is a point where arguing and negotiating accomplishes nothing.

I hear from a couple landlords that they WILL, in fact, negotiate with gringos over such points because gringos tend to pay their rent on time, no excuses. But those folks are few and far between...
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One thing I've learned about Dominicans is they think about money and possessions in the here and now, and never think about those things in the long-term.
 
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london777

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... and now for something completely different:

Last November I signed a contract to rent my apartment from a Dominican lady. Her asking price had been 12,000 per month but I realised that I would need to spend a lot of money to refurbish it to gringo standard. Most of that would be for fixtures I would have to leave behind if and when I moved out. We agreed that I would invest at least X thousand pesos, in return for which she reduced my rent to 10,000.

A few months later I was talking to my lawyer who had drawn up the contract. I said I was very happy with the deal but she had also got a good deal because in the event I had spent far more on improvements than I had contracted to do. I was just making small-talk. He, however, rang la due?a and they agreed a further rent reduction of 2000 per month to 8000 per month.

I had not expected this, or asked for it, and I was not entitled to it because the overspending on improvements was entirely on my responsibility.

In agreeing a codicil to the contract to reflect the revised rent, she has pulled back a little of what she gave away, but I still ended up with most of a very worthwhile further rent reduction.

I have to say this is in total contrast to the great majority of dealings I have ever had with Dominicans but it made for a nice surprise.

... now to return to our usual program

Three visits to PJs. Three upset stomachs. Good riddance!
 
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curlando

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First time I ate at PJs was in 2005 and the food was horrible. My friend took to eat dinner in 2010 and the Chinese food was very good. PJs use to open 24 hours, so I figure less hours open to customers killed PJs eatery.
 
K

Ken

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It appears that La Roca is now closed. One of the motorcyclists who waits in front of the farmacia across the street said the employees had been liquidated.

He said the high rent charged by the Dominican owner did La Roca in the same way that PJ's was.
 
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FritoBandito

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london777;987141 Three visits to PJs. Three upset stomachs. Good riddance![/QUOTE said:
HaHaHa....I second the emotion, as well......I hope La Roca doesn't close, I like all their all-you-can-eat buffets !!!!!!!!
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london777

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JDJones said:
I got news for you folks, ten percent is standard here. Always has been.
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Rafael was saying his contract stipulated a 10% increase each year. Are you saying that is standard? That seems excessive to me.

Or are you saying 10% is standard when the lease is renewed, whenever that happens to be? For example, my lease is for five years and I know that the landlady can increase the rent by 10% (but no more) if I want to renew at the end of that five years. I thought that was a good deal as that will be far less than inflation, especially as "lleg? papa".
 
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