Downtown Santa Barbara has lost another business.
Jeannine’s restaurant and bakery at 15 E. Figueroa St. formally closed its doors on Monday. The owner of the popular eatery said on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic hit the restaurant hard.
“You don’t fly a plane when you have two passengers,” owner Alison Hardey said. “The costs don’t make sense. You have to at some point face reality.”
Hardey opened Jeannine’s 15 years ago at the edge of La Arcada Plaza. It was a popular breakfast and lunch destination for nearby law firm employees, library patrons and wandering tourists looking for a delicious bite to eat.
The decline in government employees working nearby at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse and Administration Building clobbered the restaurant’s bottom line.
Ironically, the city’s swift move to close State Street to cars and allow outdoor dining and parklets also hurt Jeannine’s, and some other restaurants farther up State Street.
Much of the restaurant clientele that remained headed to the 500 block of State Street. And although Hardey spent a lot of money to build a parklet, she said it was “a little scary” to sit outdoors, with the buses that rumbled through.
The closure of a block of Victoria Street nearby was “the last piece to fall for us.”
Hardy posted a sign on her window early Monday.
“We are especially grateful to La Arcada for having provided such a beautiful home for all of us,” Hardey said. “This decision was one of the most difficult that we have had to face during these unprecedented times.”
Santa Barbara City Councilwoman Meagan Harmon, whose law office is across the street, used to eat the soup of the day with a side of cornbread, or sometimes the Cobb salad, on her lunch break at Jeannine’s.
“The closure of Jeannine’s Figueroa Street location is a real loss for our downtown,” Harmon said. “In pre-COVID days, it was a regular hangout for me and for so many of us who live and work downtown — a place where we were virtually guaranteed to run into at least one neighbor or colleague during every visit.
“Jeannine’s closure is another stark reminder of the devastating impact of this pandemic on our local businesses.”
Harmon said the parklets and the State Street promenade, both facilitated by the city, have been of significant value, but “those municipal solutions can’t sustain businesses through periods of protracted closure.”
“Real, meaningful financial assistance” from the state and federal government is needed, she said, with money going directly to businesses that can be used to pay employees, to pay rent, to keep the doors open. Jeannine’s’ bustling energy was such a part of what makes our downtown special,” Harmon said. “It will be missed.”
The situation is better for Hardey’s other three restaurants.
The Montecito location at 1253 Coast Village Road is scheduled to re-open the second week of January. The Outer State Street store, 3607 State St., and the Goleta store at 7060
Hollister Ave., will re-open as soon as the restrictions are lifted and they are able to offer outdoor dining.
Under the latest stay-at-home order, restaurants are limited to takeout and delivery service only.
“We trust that better days lie ahead, and are anxious to be back to work as soon as possible,” Hardey said in her her letter. “Please be safe and try to remember to practice kindness and patience as we all struggle to navigate this difficult time together.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.