SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Merry Monk on Henry Street will reopen Wednesday, after it was seized by the state for nonpayment of taxes and forced to close last week.
The Belgium-themed restaurant’s other location in Albany, on North Pearl Street, will also reopen Wednesday.
Jeremy O’Brien, an owner, said the owners and their attorneys met with the state Department of Taxation and Finance “and we just came up with a mutually agreeable solution.” The agreement involves paying off the debt, which amounted to about $460,000, over time, he said.
The Saratoga Springs location owed more than $242,000 in taxes, while the Albany restaurant owed more than $217,000, according to the state’s delinquent tax database. They were seized on Tuesday, May 9.
O’Brien would not elaborate on how the restaurants fell behind on the tax payments.
“We’re still trying to digest everything,” he said. “Obviously, it is something that we aren’t proud of or anything, but we’re doing what we can to move forward and make right on everything.”
Both locations will reopen with regular hours. The restaurant at 84 Henry St. opens for dinner on weekdays and brunch and dinner on the weekends, while the 90 N. Pearl St. location serves lunch and dinner every day.
From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, the Saratoga eatery will offer $3 Stella drafts and a free buffet as “a little simple thing to show our appreciation for the people who have supported us over the years,” O’Brien said. A customer appreciation day in Albany is still in the works.
Both restaurants will also offer buy-one, get-one mussels when they reopen Wednesday.
Categories: -News-, Business, Schenectady County
