20 Water Street Turning 'Blu'

Twenty Water Street is no more. On Thursday, May 16, ownership of the waterfront restaurant building changes hands and the upstairs restaurant will begin its transition to Blu On The Water. The Wharf Tavern, downstairs, will remain.

The East Greenwich Town Council approved transfer of the liquor license to restaurant owners Craig and Glenn Chelo Monday night. By Wednesday, a dumpster was parked next to the building, ready for Thursday's real estate closing.

"We've been in talks close to three months," said Craig Chelo on Wednesday. "We've been very well into our planning."

So well, in fact, that they plan to be ready to reopen as Blu by July 1.

According to Craig Chelo, the restaurant will undergo extensive renovations. It will be "nice casual," with what he said would be a great outdoor area. "We are going to have a deck like no other deck in Rhode Island," he promised.

The more casual Wharf Tavern will stay pretty much as is because, as Chelo said, "it does well."

Twenty Water Street was the go-to restaurant for a while in the 1980s and '90s. In more recent years, it had struggled to compete. The new restaurant, like Twenty Water Street, will have live music in the summer, ranging from what Craig Chelo called "smooth rock," to country to jazz. "We want to keep it what East Greenwich residents would really appreciate," he said.

Craig Chelo acknowledged that their namesake restaurant on Masthead Drive up Post Road in Warwick has run into problems in recent years with its entertainment license, which must be renewed yearly. The restaurant — the family's only other waterside location — features live music but in recent years some neighbors have objected. Chelo said the restaurant has had no noise violations in all the years it's been there.

According to the Warwick Beacon in March, the Warwick Board of Public Safety voted to approve an entertainment license for Chelo's on Masthead Drive allowing live outdoor music from 6 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Up until then, bands had been allowed to perform until 11 p.m. Chelo's is appealing that decision.

The Chelo's brothers — Craig and Glen's father and three uncles — opened their first restaurant nearly 57 years ago. The East Greenwich location will bring the total number of restaurants owned by the family to 10.

What's your favorite memory of Twenty Water Street? Share it in the comments section, below.