Munch’s Restaurant sells; new year to bring changes
After 70 years in the same location in southeast St. Petersburg, Munch’s Restaurant and Sundries is about to serve its last breakfast, at least under that name.
Munch’s will close on Dec. 30.
The one-acre property at 3920 6th Street South is under contract, commercial agent Lisa Ulrich of Barkett Realty has confirmed. Barkett represents owner Larry Munch, whose family opened the restaurant in 1952.
Last summer, the 68-year-old Munch announced his intention to retire, and he put the family business on the market for $2.7 million.
The lot includes a strip center with multiple rental tenants (Southside Coffee Brew Bar, Phillips Air Conditioning & Heating and Coquina Meat Market) alongside Munch’s itself, as well as two single-family homes.
Jake Wollman of KW Commercial, representing the new owners, said the hope is to re-open the breakfast (and lunch) spot, whether as Munch’s – honoring the legacy and keeping many of the place’s long-loved recipes – or under a new name.
The search is on for restaurant management. “We’re confident that we’re going to find a group that’s either local, or wants to be local, and that it pays homage to Munch’s, or does something that’s maybe nostalgic,” Wollman said.
Carmen Taylor (seen here with owner Larry Munch) has been a server at Munch’s for 14 years. 2018 photo by Bill DeYoung.
Dean and Clariece Munch opened a sundries shop in 1951, near the little bridge that ran from 4th Street South – then one of the most heavily-traveled thoroughfares in town – to a speck of sand and dredge development called Lewis Island.
In its first incarnation, Munch’s included the neighborhood post office, and a counter for the rental of vacuum cleaners. Clariece took in laundry and sewing; Dean installed a jukebox and a hot dog vending machine.
Lewis Island was being developed into what we know today as Coquina Key; the enterprising Munches began filling the back of their car with sandwiches, and cold drinks, and delivering them to the multitudes of construction workers putting up new homes in the hot Florida sun.
Dean and Clariece had two sons, Gary and Larry. They both grew up working in the restaurant.
As southeast St. Petersburg grew, so Munch’s Restaurant grew. First came a lunch counter, with stools, and a small grill, and in 1964 the family built a full add-on kitchen. They bought Carlisle Grocery, the little building next door, and it became the second, larger dining room.
In the 1970s, the Munches divorced, and Clariece, with managerial help and kitchen assistance from Larry, continued to run the operation. She retired in 1994, at age 88, and Larry bought her out.
