Longtime popular West Palm Beach sandwich shop on South Dixie closing its doors for good
WEST PALM BEACH — PB Wraps, a longtime sandwich shop on Dixie Highway, is closing its doors for good Sunday, April 21, after 23 years.
Known for its wraps, quesadillas, bowls, burgers, chicken wings and fried green beans, it once was extremely popular and even visited by rock star Jon Bon Jovi a few times.
Rene Richthofen and his wife, Jane, opened the spot after 9/11, and business thrived on the bustling street along with other small businesses. Jane Richthoven said COVID-19 ultimately was the beginning of the downfall for the restaurant.
"Unfortunately, we just haven't been the same since then," she said. "We've weathered a few rough years since then, and with the price of food and the competition, we just haven't been getting the business. It's time."
She said the restaurant had been losing its regular customers because "people just aren't spending as much on lunches anymore."
The restaurant, which originally was part of the Great Wraps chain, occupied a tiny spot in the El Cid neighborhood just north of Belvedere Road at 2409 S. Dixie Highway. Many of the chain spots were in malls, but this particular place in the older building with art and automotive decor created more of a local feel.
It served dinner as well, but lunch was the real money driver.
What's next for the PB Wraps owners?
The Richthofens aren't sure what is next for the location, which is owned by Palm Beach County businessman Andrew Roddy.
Jane Richthofen said she and her husband, who also owned a Miami Subs at one time, are getting out of the restaurant business for good and will continue to both focus on their artwork.
Jane, who uses her maiden name Manus in the art community, has done several sculptures, including a 16-foot tall, 1,000-pound painted aluminum abstract piece that is displayed along with the fountains at the Bristol luxury condominium on Flagler Drive in downtown West Palm Beach.
Jane Manus, who learned the art of sculpture at the Art Institute of Boston, has had her work exhibited worldwide, and is included in many prestigious collections, including the Cricket Taplin Collection in Miami, the Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville, the Lincoln Center/List Collection in New York and the Georgia Museum of Art in Atlanta.
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Her husband, who is from Austria, is also an artist and plans to continue his work both nationally and internationally.
"It's been a really good run," Jane Richthofen said. "We had exceptional employees and I'll miss them the most. That, and I have no idea where I'm going to go for lunch now."
James Coleman is a journalist at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at jcoleman@pbpost.com and follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @JimColeman11. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PB Wraps restaurant South Dixie in West Palm Beach closed
