South Florida Sun Sentinel
Oct 06, 2021 10:52 AM
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Anthony’s Runway 84, the old-school Italian restaurant icon in Fort Lauderdale, will shut down 2022 for a major makeover tied to its 40th anniversary. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Anthony’s Runway 84, the longstanding, old-school Italian restaurant that restaurateur Anthony Bruno opened with his father in 1982, will shut down in 2022 for a first-class upgrade.
The occasion for this multimillion-dollar makeover is the restaurant’s fast-approaching 40th anniversary next year. Bruno tells the South Florida Sun Sentinel that his State Road 84 staple will likely close in January and reopen May with a sleeker, 21st-century dining room that will retain many of its airplane motifs.
“It’s a little bit of a refresh,” says Bruno, 59, who also announced the upgrades on Runway 84′s Facebook page. “It’ll be great to add a little more of a 21st century vibe that still embraces the Italian old-school feel.”
Of the updated décor, Bruno says he’s still finalizing design plans, but stressed that ongoing supply-chain shortages could delay the restaurant’s transformation “further into the first quarter of 2022,” he says.
The meatballs of Anthony’s Runway 84, a perennial appetizer favorite. (Sun Sentinel)
Customers on Facebook agreed with Bruno, hoping the restaurant would keep its supper-clubby “old-school vibe” and avoid changing its aviation-themed décor, which includes a fuselage-like hallway entrance, booths with airplane-style windows and a life-size airplane painting in the dining room.
Even while Anthony’s Runway is closed, the restaurant’s belly-filling Italian fare isn’t disappearing completely. Similar versions of Runway 84′s famous dishes (such as rigatoni cauliflower and meatballs) still appear on the menu of Anthony’s Pronto Kitchen, Bruno’s downtown grab-and-go eatery that moved from Victoria Park to Pizzacraft in Himmarshee Village (330 SW Second St., Fort Lauderdale) earlier this year.
Bruno, who co-founded the Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza chain (but no longer runs it), has built an ambitious restaurant empire. Along with his namesake eatery, he owns Andy’s Live Fire Grill (named after his father) and now TacoCraft, a brand also headed by ACFP co-founder Pat Marzano, TacoCraft founder Marc Falsetto, Miami Dolphins icon Dan Marino and local radio legend Paul Castronovo.
Anthony’s Runway 84, at 330 W. State Road 84, in Fort Lauderdale, expects to close in early 2022 for a major makeover. Call 954-467-8484 or go to Runway-84.com.
