San Diego celebrity chef Brian Malarkey announced today that they are temporarily closing all their restaurants in reaction to the rapidly spreading CoronaVirus (COVID-19).
"Friends & Neighbors, Our mission has always been to provide a happy and healthy place for our community and our team," said Chris Puffer & Brian Malarkey in an issued statement. "Given the rapidly changing situation surrounding COVID-19, we've decided to temporarily close all our locations, effective Sunday, March 15. While we wait to reopen, we're encouraging our staff to spend time at home and with loved ones. We hope you're able to as well. We know we've said it before but we'll say it again - we'll weather this storm, together. We will be back stronger and better than ever. We're looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and working together to get this crisis under control and ultimately come out ahead."
Effectively immediately, all Puffer Malarkey Collective restaurants will remain closed until further notice, including Herb & Wood, Herb & Eatery, Herb & Sea, Animae, NIMA Cafe, Green Acre Campus Pointe, Green Acre Nautilus, Farmer & The Seahorse, and Wood Yu, all in San Diego, and Herb & Ranch in Irvine. There is no word whether employees will continue to be paid or are laid off during this time. Donovan's Steak and Chophouse also closed this weekend citing coronavirus as the reason. Other restaurants, like Supannee House of Thai in Point Loma and Sisters Pizza in Hillcrest, are moving to a delivery and take-out only model. We fear that San Diego may face many more closures in the near future, possibly forced by local, state or federal mandate.
