NEWPORT BEACH
After investing close to $700,000 to rebuild the interior of the Village Inn, the Balboa Island restaurant reopened Monday.
A pre-opening private party for the most loyal of customers was held last week by owner Lance Wagner, and there are plenty of loyal customers.
“It’s the reason why I moved to the island,” said Sharon Antle, a two-year resident of Balboa Island.
Owned by the Hershey family from 1920 through 1990, the restaurant held many names before becoming the Village Inn. Around 1937, the Hershey family leased its little restaurant to brothers Art, Bert and Vaux White, who called it the Park Avenue Cafe. Shortly after a remodel, the name was changed to White’s Cafe.
When the Village Inn first closed, regular Patty Otsen said, people were disappointed and thought it would be closed for only a short while. But the renovation process dragged into a year, she said.
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