A Jim Thorpe banquet is closing and the owner will shift his efforts to a Palmerton landmark.

Borough Manager Donna McGarry announced at Thursday’s borough council meeting that a liquor license is proposed to be transferred from Dean Anthony’s Banquet Hall in Jim Thorpe to the Palmerton Hotel at 304 Delaware Ave.

The restaurant will be known as the Palmerton Pub, a fine dining restaurant and pub.

A public hearing on the transfer will take place when council meets at 7 p.m. March 25.

Dean Anthony’s

Jeff Broadt, who runs Dean Anthony’s Banquet Hall, posted Friday morning on Facebook that it intends to close its establishment at 1122 North St. in Jim Thorpe.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the permanent closure of Dean Anthony’s,” Broadt said. It has been a tough time throughout this pandemic, for my employees and my family. We have thought long and hard about this decision and feel that better opportunities are available. Currently, the restrictions on gatherings prohibit us from doing the type business we have set out to do.

He referenced the people he has met over the last six years. “We have and always will consider you friends, not customers. It has been a pleasure coming in to work and seeing our friends on a Friday night for dinner. We can’t thank you enough for your loyalty.”

He thanked his landlords, the Citro family and his dedicated staff.

“I will always consider them family and proud to call them friends!

“As for me and my family, this is not the end for us. We have entered into a new joint venture in Palmerton. He asked people to follow The Palmerton Pub’s progress on Facebook.

The business ended its post with a shout out to some of its regular customers and friends.

Palmerton Pub

Broadt said he’s targeted a June 1 opening for Palmerton Pub.

“We have pub style food, ranging from sandwiches to full-blown dinners; everything is homemade, just like we got the reputation at Dean Anthony’s.”

Broadt said his new restaurant will be “family-oriented.”

“I have an 8-year-old boy, Matthew, and I want to see him sitting here eating his chicken fingers,” he said.

Broadt said he and his wife Karina like to be involved in the community.

“We’re very family-oriented, I love my employees, we’ve always been a well-knit group; our employees love working for us.”

Broadt said he has “always been intrigue” by the Palmerton Hotel.

“It’s such a landmark; it’s a shame to drive into Palmerton and see an empty hotel,” he said. “We felt that by bringing our homemade food down, our service, we could really generate something that’s going to work for me as a business owner, and the community.”

Broadt stressed his new business target “the family-crowd.”

“It’s very said to close Dean Anthony’s; it’s a heartbreaking thing,” he said. “We really got anchored into the community, made a ton of friends, a ton of loyal customers; we want to do the same thing down here.”

In November 2019, the Fast Fit Cafe expanded into the business next door, The Palmerton Hotel at 302-304 Delaware Ave.

But, just as owners began consolidating the two businesses, Fast Fit Cafe closed in January 2020, and The Palmerton Hotel followed.

Jim Christman, who owns the properties, has worked to improved the furnished rooms for rent atop The Palmerton Hotel.

He said the rooms were in good shape at first, but over the years they fell into disrepair. When the last bar/restaurant tenant left, Christman said they decided to go in and bring the rooms back to life.