The Chattaway reopens today with new owners and a promise to preserve what St. Pete loves
/The Chattaway has reopened in south St. Pete with new owners | St Pete Rising
For generations of St. Pete residents, The Chattaway has been the kind of place people do not simply visit. They return to it.
They come back for the cheeseburgers, the beer, the photos and plaques crowding the walls, and the leafy courtyard that feels tucked away from the city around it.
Some remember riding bikes there as kids. Others had first dates beneath its trees. Nearly everyone has a story.
Today, that story enters a new chapter.
The Chattaway has reopened at 358 22nd Avenue South after Cullen Mahoney, Ferg’s Sports Bar owner Mark Ferguson, and Shrimpy’s Waterfront owner John John Delladonna purchased both the restaurant and the 0.70-acre property beneath it.
Customers returning today will find the familiar restaurant, with several practical upgrades designed to make it work better day to day.
The new owners added another outdoor bar and an overhead canopy with fans, allowing the patio to remain usable when rain would have previously forced the restaurant to close.
The Chattaway also now has a full liquor license.
The new owners of The Chattaway, from left: Cullen Mahoney, Mark Ferguson, John John Delladonna, and Dan Polityka | The Chattaway
The menu retains its longtime favorites, including the burger Mahoney has called “the holy grail” of The Chattaway experience. New additions include fresh seafood options inspired by Shrimpy’s, Ferg’s famous wings, and vegan options.
The new owners also made several updates inside the restaurant.
The bathrooms will remain largely as they are, although the front restroom now features a new mural by Doodles by Lu.
The owners also plan to address aging equipment, safety needs, and the deteriorated floor in the tea room, which will become a more regularly used dining space.
New Chattaway merchandise is also in the works, including shirts featuring vintage photographs from the restaurant’s past.
The restaurant’s future was uncertain earlier this year, when the property went under contract and its longtime owners prepared to close the business.
The new owners added an overhead canopy with fans, allowing The Chattaway’s patio to remain open during rain | The Chattaway
Mahoney was initially sent the site as a potential redevelopment opportunity, with townhomes or mixed-use retail envisioned for the 0.70-acre property.
His reaction, he said, was immediate.
“We have to find a way to preserve this,” Mahoney said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “There’s no other place like this on the south side.”
Mahoney, who lives within walking distance of The Chattaway, had already made memories there with his girlfriend.
He had invested in restaurants before, but had never operated one when he put the property under contract and began looking for partners who shared his desire to keep it intact.
Ferguson, who grew up in Lakewood Estates and has his own childhood memories of biking to The Chattaway, joined the effort.
Delladonna, whose restaurant Shrimpy’s Waterfront is known for its seafood, rounded out the ownership group.
Their shared objective was not to recreate The Chattaway in a more polished image. It was to give the institution the attention it needed to keep going.
“We care about every photo that’s under polyurethane stuck to the bar,” Mahoney previously told St. Pete Rising. “We care about every plaque screwed into the wall. We’re keeping it what it is because that’s what makes it important to St. Pete.”
The Chattaway’s new owners recently added a second outdoor bar and expanded the restaurant’s beverage offerings to include liquor | The Chattaway
The restaurant dates to 1951, when Helen Lund purchased the business. She was later joined by her son, Everett Lund, and eventually his wife, Jillian Frers.
Over the decades, it grew into one of St. Pete’s most enduring gathering places, known as much for its eclectic personality and afternoon tea service as its food.
The new owners hope that personality remains intact while the restaurant takes on a broader role in the neighborhood.
They are considering live music, community events, and weekend markets, but Mahoney said the goal is not to turn The Chattaway into a crowded sports bar.
Instead, he sees it as a place for neighbors, families, children, and dogs to gather as development continues to move through St. Pete.
Mahoney said the group owns both the land and the restaurant, allowing them to protect it from redevelopment and preserve it for the long term.
“We want to hold onto it in perpetuity,” Mahoney said. “Now that we own it, we want to ensure it doesn’t go anywhere.”
For now, the message to longtime customers is simple: The Chattaway is still here. The burgers are still here. And the garden, the stories, and the slightly imperfect character that made the place worth saving are still part of the experience.
