Downtown Tampa's Lucky Dill Deli Evicted By Landlord

Lucky Dill Deli, a lunch mainstay for downtown denizens, was uncharacteristically dark this morning. Usually, kitchen help is busy preparing lunches and packaging catered meals.

On Thursday, the landlord, accompanied by a couple of Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies, booted the chef and other employees preparing food, leaving the eatery dark and owners scrambling for legal recourse.

The closure is part of an eviction proceeding. The landlord said the restaurant owners are two months in arrears, totaling more than $21,000 for August and September.

Mary Ayo is the senior property manager for Colliers Arnold, which represents PT Associates, the owner of the building at 400 N. Tampa St.

"They are being evicted for nonpayment of rent, rent for August and September, including electric and other operating expenses," Ayo said this morning.

The landlord tried to get Lucky Dill evicted last year for the same reason, but "they paid up on that one," Ayo said.

She said the restaurant had paid the rent with a bad check this summer and no checks at all after that.

Court records show that an eviction notice was filed in Hillsborough County civil court Aug. 29, and on Sept. 5, the court issued a writ of possession, allowing the landlord and property manager to go in, shut down the business and kick out the employees.

That happened Thursday. Later, attorneys for the deli filed a motion for a stay and to have the case reopened. Those requests are pending.

Lucky Dill chef Eric Cornwell was busy preparing the day's menu Thursday morning, when the deputies and landlord showed up. It was just after 8 a.m., he said.

"They made a power play," he said. "She kicked me out while I had food cooking. We had to throw all our food away.

"To me, it ironic," he said. "They shut down a New York style deli on 9/11."

He said the restaurant owners and landlord have had problems for a while because the space is earning only a fraction of the market value because of a lease signed five years ago.

The restaurant owners, Mary and Christian Zavala and Paul de Vietien could not be reached for comment.

Ayo said she wasn't aware of the motion to stay the eviction but said she has been looking to replace the deli with another restaurant.

"We do want a restaurant there," she said. "We're looking for a restaurant, and we have had conversations with several national chains. It's a good location, great visibility, local to everything in downtown Tampa."

In November, PT Associates filed eviction notices on Lucky Dill, saying the restaurant owed two months of unpaid rent and other expenses

Owners said the restaurant admitted that business had lagged over the summer. The matter eventually was settled when the deli made good on its arrearages.