Is Lucille’s American Cafe in Weston closing … or not? See what owners have to say

It became a safe haven for dazed and distressed snowbirds after the Sept. 11 attacks and a sanctuary for dazed and distressed regulars in the COVID-19 era.

But now, the future of Lucille’s American Cafe, a Weston comfort-food institution serving up mouthfuls of nostalgia since 1999, is unclear.

Longtime owners Paul and Beth Nunez last week announced via the restaurant’s Facebook account that Lucille’s would close “at the end of August.” In the post, Paul Nunez pointed to a landlord disagreement over higher rents and upgrades to the restaurant’s aging kitchen and bathrooms.

However, on Monday, the cafe owners told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that negotiations are underway for a potential last-minute reprieve.

“We’re supposed to meet this week [with the landlord],” said Beth Nunez. “We’ve done a great job of keeping the restaurant well-maintained, but the building is 27 years old, and we wanted to refresh the bathrooms and kitchen.

“This is not how we wanted to go out,” she added, fighting back tears. “I just feel like we’re letting the community down.”

Calum Winsor, a broker at Current Capital Realty who handles real estate on behalf of the landlord, on Tuesday confirmed the active negotiations with the owners of Lucille’s.

“I want the outcome to serve the landlord’s best interests, whether that’s raising or maintaining the rent [Lucille’s is] currently paying,” Winsor told the Sun Sentinel. “But if the rents they’re proposing don’t make sense, then we might have to go back to market.”

With the fate of Lucille’s hanging in the balance, the mood in the dining room felt somber Monday afternoon as longtime regulars passed, pointed and “aww”-ed at a chalkboard sign above the kitchen pass mentioning the planned end-of-August closing. Whispered chatter echoed across the lunch-rush lines waiting to be seated, some voicing confusion (“But this place is always popular!”) and others anger (“How the f—- could Lucille’s get screwed over like this?”).

Customer Dorothy Henry, accompanied by husband Don, has been coming for 15 years.

“Oh, this is a classic place,” she says as a Monday blue-plate special of California Baja fish tacos arrive. “I hope it survives. The staff are very welcoming, and the food is good, comforting and easy.”

One of Weston’s oldest restaurants — at 26 it’s a few years younger than the city itself — the checkered floors, plush vinyl booths and blue-plate specials at Lucille’s have beckoned comfort-food disciples for decades.

Less a diner than a throwback 1940s soda shop, the lunch-dinner joint plays Great American Songbook oldies and serves marinated skirt steak, fork-tender baby back ribs and meatloaf in mushroom gravy with generous mounds of mashed potatoes. Many dishes and sides are scratch-made under longtime chef Ray “Ray Ray” Petit.

This story will be updated. Check back for more information.

Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com or Twitter/X @philvalys.