50 Popular Restaurants That Won’t Reopen After the Pandemic

This award-winning vegan-focused “mole palace” (as the Phoenix New Times once called it), open since 2016, is no more. Chef-owner Silvana Salcido Esparza cited “zero funding and coronavirus” as the factors involved with her decision — adding that closing the place will allow her to save her other Phoenix restaurant, Barrio Café, currently operating as a community kitchen.

As a reminder that nationwide chains as well as locally owned establishments can experience coronavirus closings, the Little Rock branch of this popular Asian fusion chain has served its last meal. The demise of the restaurant, one of more than 200 P.F. Chang’s locations around the U.S., was announced on Facebook in late March.

The owners of Swingers (see below) opened this pub and restaurant on the site of a venerable dive bar called Ye Coach & Horses in 2012. In common with Swingers, it won’t revive after the coronavirus crisis abates — though the proprietors say they have plans to convert the space into a different restaurant at some future point.

A 27-year-old late-night hangout on Beverly Boulevard, Swingers ended service for good in early April. What Eater described as its “classic midcentury coffee shop vibes and…wide menu” appealed to a broad clientele.

Like other Chinese restaurants, this Cantonese/Chaozhou was particularly affected by the business downturn resulting from the coronavirus panic. Though well-regarded by lovers of authentic Chinese food — it was a favorite of the late, legendary Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold — it closed permanently the week of March 3.

When this seven-year-old California-Italian place first closed in mid-March, the owners announced that they’d reopen on April 7 when Northern California’s shelter-in-place order was scheduled to end. When they realized that the closing period would be extended, they made the decision to close for good.

Specializing in Roman-style pasta dishes, and hailed as a “must-visit Italian restaurant” by the San Francisco Chronicle, this upscale restaurant closed permanently in mid-March. Though it was popular, owner Craig Stoll told the Chronicle, it never made money, and the current crisis made its continued existence untenable.

This beloved deli, bakery, market, and espresso bar combination — it was said to have been the first espresso bar between L.A. and New York City — opened in 1983. Its closing isn’t due only to the coronavirus (the proprietor had been considering retiring soon anyway), but the pandemic sped up its demise.

Early in April, this steakhouse, operated by local restaurant veteran Jack Jackson since 2017, announced that it had closed for good due to the coronovirus’s “crippling effect” on the economy.

A fried chicken specialist in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood, opened in 2018, Luella’s has gone out of business as a result of the pandemic closing. The original location, in Lincoln Square, continues on, doing takeout and delivery, and plans to reopen when the situation stabilizes.

Describing the combination of the state-mandated restaurant-closing order and overall concern about the coronavirus as “the perfect storm,” the owner of this six-year-old high-end northern Italian place in a Chicago suburb announced in late March that he had “no choice but to close.”

This casual farm-to-table restaurant has closed indefinitely, though a spokesperson left open the possibility that it could reopen “once we get through this pandemic.” Its staff has been permanently let go in the meantime. The place, which debuted in 2016, is owned by Kimball Musk, younger brother of Tesla boss and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Open since 2005, this small-plates restaurant in the Des Moines metropolitan area closed temporarily in March like other Iowa establishments. On April 14, however, owner Suzanne Summy announced that she had made the “heart-wrenching” decision not to renew her lease and to close for good.

This 33-year-old family-owned restaurant, known both for its food and for the personality of owner Penny Uraiklang, shut down definitively in late March. Uraiklang had died recently of cancer, but her family promised her they’d keep the place going. The impact of the coronavirus made that impossible, they said.

A German-inspired Biergarten and grill (whose name references the Turkish sandwich that is popular street food in Germany), this establishment, opened in 2014, announced its permanent demise in mid-April. Another location, in Leesburg, Virginia, will remain open.

When Massachusetts restaurants begin to reopen, this 14-year-old Thai favorite in the northern part of the state won’t be among them. The owners had already decided to close this spring for economic reasons, but the pandemic hurried things along, and also made it impossible for them to sell food at various local festivals as they had planned.

The Egg and I had been serving breakfast dishes daily, for both breakfast and lunch, for more than 30 years. After it closed on March 17 in response to Minnesota governor Tim Walz’s order, the owner decided not to reopen and to sell the property instead. He still plans to reopen his second location, in St. Paul, when possible.

The Main Street location of this small comfort-food chain — there are three others around the Kansas City area — will not reopen even after the pandemic subsides. The chain announced the decision on Facebook on April 6.

The proprietor of this six-year-old farm-to-table restaurant near Portsmouth decided in mid-March not to reopen even when he’s allowed to. “I didn’t feel it was prudent to take on more debt” that might be difficult to pay back, he said.

A staple in Flemington, a Hunterdon County town southwest of Newark, for almost 30 years, Jake’s was a combination fine-dining restaurant and sports bar. The owners announced on April 9 that their temporary closing had become permanent.

Opened in 1976, this prime rib restaurant, also noted for its salad bar, announced at the beginning of April that it had shuttered for good. The loss of wedding and catering business was a contributing factor.

This two-year-old establishment in the Syracuse metropolitan area became the first restaurant in Central New York State to announce that it would not reopen once the coronavirus shut-down ended. The owners decided in late March to pull the plug, noting that their lease was due for renewal soon anyway.

New York: Coogan’s
> Location: New York City

This Irish pub and restaurant in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood — which styled itself “America’s #1 Runners Restaurant” — closed its doors on March 17 for what was initially going to be a limited period of time. On April 21, however, the owners posted a statement on the Coogan’s website saying “We had hoped to open them again but sadly that is not possible.”

New York: Daddy-O
> Location: New York City

A Greenwich Village dive bar and restaurant, Daddy-O was a favorite hangout for New York City chefs until it closed up earlier this month. It had an upstate New York vibe, as expressed by dishes like Buffalo wings and the Rochester specialty the “garbage plate” (involving fried potatoes, hot dogs, baked beans, meat sauce, and other ingredients). Owner Phil Casaceli has confirmed the closing but provided no details about the restaurant’s demise.

The most famous restaurant to shut down for good in the face of the pandemic — so far — Gotham had recently weathered the departure of chef Alfred Portale, who had been in charge of the kitchen for more than 30 years. However, a statement by a spokesperson explained, “the unforeseen situation created by the coronavirus has made operation of the restaurant untenable.”

Opened in 1989 by noted Manhattan restaurant mogul Keith McNally, this SoHo bistro initially provided takeout and delivery services when in-house dining was banned, like many other places. It stopped doing that in late March, before announcing in April that it would not be reopening. McNally — whose other restaurants include the acclaimed Balthazar and Minetta Tavern — was himself hospitalized in London with COVID-19 in early April.

Ohio: Parkers Blue Ash Tavern
> Location: Cincinnati

A suburban Cincinnati favorite, serving steak and seafood in an upscale environment for almost 40 years, the Tavern has posted a message on its website reading in part “Due to the uncertainty associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry, and Parkers Blue Ash Tavern in particular, it has been very difficult for us to plan a reopening.”

Citing cancellations for its catering business as well as declining restaurant revenues, this eight-year-old establishment — named one of Cleveland Magazine’s best restaurants of the year in 2019 — announced in mid-March that it was shuttering permanently. The catering company will continue to operate.

Opened in 1960 across the street from now-defunct Forbes Field, then home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, this iconic institution in the center of the University of Pittsburgh campus has apparently served its last burgers, dogs, and famous fries. Though there has been no official announcement, reports confirm that “The O,” as it was known, has been emptied out, and its website no longer operates.

Though its 15-year-old Providence location will reopen, the East Greenwich iteration of this “American brasserie,” launched in late 2014, will not. The owners cite “current conditions.”

South Carolina: Yesterdays Restaurant and Tavern
> Location: Columbia

This 43-year-old institution in the South Carolina capital’s Five Points neighborhood closed in early April, expecting to possibly reopen. However, co-owner Scottie MacRae told the newspaper The State in late April that “with heavy but grateful hearts…we’ve decided to hang it up for good.”

The Knoxville branch of this four-unit chain announced in late March that it would not reopen after closing in the face of the coronavirus crisis. A second Babalu location, in Birmingham, Alabama, has also shut down for good. Another Tennessee location, in Memphis, and the fourth unit, in Jackson, Mississippi, are expected to reopen when possible.

Opened as a gas station and beer bar in 1933, this Austin institution evolved into a full-scale restaurant and leading music venue, spawning a second location in 1996. That one closed in 2018, and now the original Threadgill’s is for sale and will not reopen.

An East Dallas restaurant and beer garden opened in 2013, The LOT announced on April 3 that its state-mandated closing would not be temporary. “Losing a spring season makes it financially impossible to recover,” said owner John McGride.

After almost a decade, this downtown sandwich shop pulled the plug on March 18. The owner had planned to sell the place to another operator but had agreed to keep running the restaurant until the deal was finalized. Then, he noted, “the world came to a standstill.” The deal fell through, and Citizen shut down.

Known for more than a quarter of a century for its serious oyster menu as well as its meat and seafood dishes, The Brooklyn called it quits as of March 13. A statement blamed “the devastating economic impact of global events.”

In early March, this purveyor of “real food” posted an online notice that it was “closing entirely.” It cited various factors, including group dining cancellations, the likely impact of the pandemic on Seattle tourism this summer, possible mandatory quarantine measures, and the challenges of operating with a smaller staff for shorter hours.

This “modern American brunch” restaurant in a Milwaukee suburb, opened in May of 2018, will not reopen in its current form. Owners Black Shoe Hospitality say that a new concept in the space, serving both brunch and dinner, will open eventually, but there is no firm timeline. A Blue’s Egg location in Milwaukee itself plans to reopen.