Stuck with a Tango gift card? Another Main Line restaurant owner offers help.
The owner of the nearby Avalon Bistro is offering $25 credit on meals at his restaurant.
Restaurateur John Brandt-Lee, who owns Avalon Bistro in Bryn Mawr, is offering to help those who hold gift cards to Tango, a once-popular restaurant at the nearby Bryn Mawr train station that closed abruptly over Christmas.
In a goodwill gesture, Brandt-Lee said he would deduct $25 from any Avalon guest check in exchange for a Tango card of any value through March 1, though not on Feb. 14 or Feb. 15. One card may be used per table per visit.
Brandt-Lee has no ties to Tango or its owners. Since extending the offer last month, Brandt-Lee said he had redeemed about 20 Tango cards, some of which apparently had been purchased shortly before the closing.
» READ MORE: What to do with a restaurant gift card
Brandt-Lee made a similar offer when Gilmore’s, a popular French restaurant in West Chester, closed with no warning in 2012. At the time, Brandt-Lee owned another Avalon restaurant nearby.
Tango owners Joe Baldino and Samuel Sheridan have not returned numerous calls and messages seeking comment or guidance about redeeming gift cards. (Baldino, incidentally, is not related to Joey Baldino, owner of Palizzi Social Club and Zeppoli.)
The restaurant space, owned by Amtrak, is available for what its listing called an “extremely below market lease with 10+ years remaining.” Tango’s liquor license, R17236, is listed in the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s database as being in “safekeeping” status, likely to be offered to whoever leases the restaurant.
Montgomery County court records show a confession of judgment filed in September 2019 by Branch Banking & Trust Co. against Tango, the owners, and their wives, seeking more than $848,000, including interest and fees. The debt stems from a construction loan secured in 2013, the suit says.
Delaware County court records show a complaint filed in August 2019 by the Farmart, a Folcroft produce vendor, alleging that Tango owed it more than $12,700 plus interest and attorney’s fees.