The year brought a standout number of landmark restaurant closings, often as a result of leases expiring. In other instances, it was a simple matter of old age—a place graying too fast to compete with an onslaught of arresting new options.
And then there were the pan flashes: places that opened with more hoopla than customers, closing in less time than it takes to say, “Let me tell you about our specials.”
Here are a few of places that won’t be celebrating the New Year.
Le Cirque
A bankruptcy filing in March was shrugged off by the Maccioni family as a strategic financial maneuver, not a sign of trouble. The company wanted to avoid eviction for nonpayment of rent, a challenge for the moment because of a temporary shortfall in cash, the celebrated operators contended. But by fall, they acknowledged the rent on their current New York City location was too high to be sustainable, and confirmed the restaurant would close early in 2018. Meanwhile, the family is searching for a new, less expensive location.
Bouchon
Thomas Keller’s three-in-one place in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Bouchon Bistro, Bar Bouchon and a bakery) is set to close at the end of the year, when its lease with the city expires. Keller said the venture no longer makes sense under the renewal terms that were offered.
Isabella’s
Residents of New York’s bustling Upper West Side made Isabella’s a local favorite for 30 years. Then, one day in May, a sign appeared on the door: Sorry, we’re closed for good. No reason was given.
The outpost had been one of the first restaurants opened by BR Guest, the multiconcept group created by Stephen Hanson and ultimately sold to Landry’s. News reports say Hanson, now out on his own, has been asked by the landlord to revive the neighborhood institution.
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Michael Kornick’s fine-dining outpost closed in June after the building housing the restaurant changed hands. The new landlord wouldn’t chip in on needed improvements, Kornick told the Chicago Tribune, so he decided to call it quits after 18 years as one of Chicago’s standout dinnertime options.
Bouley
David Bouley’s original restaurant remained one of New York City’s most respected fine-dining picks for 30 years, earning top ratings from the likes of the New York Times. Along the way, it became the training ground for such now-famous kitchen talents as Dan Barber of Blue Hill, Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin and Christina Tosi of Milk Bar. But Bouley opted to focus on some of his newer ventures.
Tru
One of three Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises restaurants to close this year, Tru shuttered its doors in October after 18 years as a standout in Chicago’s fine-dining scene. The restaurant provided a stage for chefs Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand to shine, though their kitchen partnership ended along with their marriage. LEYE said it was time to use the space for a newer concept. The closure leaves Everest as the company’s lone white-tablecloth place.
Carla Hall’s Southern Kitchen
The third time was the curse for the first restaurant from TV cooking star Carla Hall. The third closing, that is—all packed into 14 months. The hot chicken restaurant opened in Brooklyn around the middle of June, but then had to close because of an electrical fire. Closing No. 2 came as a timeout to recalibrate the operation. The restaurant couldn’t pull out of its wobble, according to Hall, leading to a final shutdown this summer.
Alice Cooper’stown
Part of the eatertainment boom of the late 1990s, the restaurant venture of shock rocker Alice Cooper proved to be one of the longer-lasting specimens of the breed, serving up its beer and bar food for some 18 years in Phoenix. But it’s finally no more, Mr. Nice Guy. The place shut abruptly, without a stated reason, in October.
Grace
One of the highest-rated restaurants in the country, and by all accounts a sustainable success, the Chicago fine-dining nevertheless decided to shut its doors on Dec. 20, the brink of the busy holiday season, because of internal strife. Chef Curtis Duffy and General Manager Michael Muser reportedly quit because they were unable to buy the place from current owner Michael Olszewski. The kitchen staff evidently walked out in sympathy with its former bosses, who had co-founded the restaurant. Grace had earned three stars from the Michelin guide, one of only 14 restaurants in the United States to be so anointed.
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