Art's Bar and Grill announces reopening after copper theft

Art’s Bar & Grill expects to reopen Tuesday, May 5, after theft of copper pipe caused a plumbing crisis.

“Come get your eat on this week,” reads a post on the Facebook page of the downtown Riverside restaurant.

The post also included a message for the perpetrators.

“We hope you're as disappointed with the payout as we were with the repair bill,” it reads in part.

“To everyone else: We're officially back open this week, starting Cinco de Mayo Taco Tuesday after 10 a.m.”

Art’s occupies a brick building at 3357 University Ave., next to a 91 Freeway underpass. It opened in 1984. Former Press-Enterprise columnist Dan Bernstein wrote in 2011 that it was a replacement for a demolished restaurant called the Circus Room, which stood next to a Greyhound bus station on Market Street. Red tiles depicting circus animals were moved to the newer restaurant.

Favorites at Art’s include prime rib and pastrami as well as the atmosphere, including service, live entertainment, and karaoke, according to reviewers on the restaurant’s Yelp page.

Art’s announced the closure on April 22 in a Facebook post attributed to current owner Andrea Mario Palagi. It said that vandals “stole a large piece of our main copper water plumbing line” and estimated the restaurant would be closed for about two weeks.

The message was also posted on the restaurant’s front and back entrances.

A GoFundMe page was set up for “staff relief.” At press time, it had raised $10,021 with 82 donations.

Owners could not be reached for comment on Monday, when the restaurant is regularly closed. Its Facebook page boasts, “No telephone number – no reservations.”

Art’s is regularly open Tuesday through Saturday, according to Yelp.

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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 4:51 PM.