THE PARASITIC HEAD

Buddy’s, the Fan restaurant known for its outdoor patio, neighborhood feel and down-to-earth regulars, must find a new location after 30 years on the corner of Robinson Street and Stuart Avenue.

The restaurant’s lease is up at the end of the year and isn’t being renewed, manager Angie Dudley confirms.

Charlie Diradour of Lions Paw Development, who owns the building at 325 N. Robinson St., wasn’t immediately available for comment this afternoon.

The news came as a shock to loyal Buddy’s regulars, some of whom took out their frustrations about the situation — and the landlord — on a “Save Buddy’s” Facebook page, set up today. Within a few hours about 250 people had joined the page.

Owners Mike Dealto and Greg Nevi weren’t immediately available for comment, but Dudley says the news all came to a head this week. “They’re just trying to deal with the sadness of it right now,” Dudley says. “I do know that they hope to move to a new location.”

Voters in Style Weekly’s 2011 Best of Richmond readers poll voted Buddy’s as “Best Bar for Daytime Drinking.”

In a roundtable discussion with a cross-section of local bartenders for the 2010 Bar Guide, Style columnist Jack Lauterback posed the question: “If a visitor asks you for the one bar that’s quintessentially Richmond, where do you send them?”

“You gotta send them to Buddy’s,” bartender Otto Bartsch replied — “because it’s Buddy’s.”

http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/shakeup-at-buddys/Content?oid=1654985