Cafe Deluxe restaurants in Tysons, Virginia, and Bethesda, Maryland, have closed, early victims of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Both leases were set to expire in April, with no plans to renew, but owner Geoff Tracy says the dramatic drop in business at both locations 鈥� sales down nearly 50% in the most recent week 鈥� sped up the restaurants closures.
鈥淚n my 20 years of owning restaurants, we have survived 9/11, the dot.com bubble, the D.C. sniper, the 2008 meltdown, H1N1, the demolition of a building and more weather-related disasters than I can recall. I can say this is far and away the greatest challenge restaurants have ever faced,鈥� Tracy told 海角精品黑料.
Tracy鈥檚 other restaurants 鈥� including Cafe Deluxe at 2201 M Street NW, Tortilla Coast on Capitol Hill and restaurant Lia in Chevy Chase 鈥� remain open.
The Cafe Deluxe location in Cathedral Heights closed in 2019.
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Tracy is also sounding the alarm for the local restaurant industry.
鈥淭he economic snowball caused by COVID-19 has just begun. I anticipate a collapse of the restaurant industry in the upcoming weeks unless something extraordinary and very positive occurs,鈥� he said.
鈥淢ost operators simply do not have the resources to weather this change in sales.鈥�
Chef Geoff鈥檚 Restaurant Group and Clover Restaurant group merged in 2018 and operate under 鈥淐hef Geoff鈥檚 Deluxe Hospitality.鈥�
