Colby's Breakfast & Lunch in Portsmouth suddenly closes before 20th anniversary
PORTSMOUTH — The owner of Colby’s Breakfast & Lunch announced the immediate closure of the Daniel Street staple Monday, one month shy of its 20th anniversary.
Pointing to staffing shortages, the eatery famous for its hearty egg scrambles and omelets, pancakes, sandwiches, salads and quesadillas, the owners took to Instagram to explain the reason behind the decision. A day earlier, Colby’s had posted it was closed, but didn't say it was permanent.
The post on Monday made it clear.
“You can’t run a restaurant without staff, and staffing has proved impossible in this area,” the Colby's Instagram post reads. “Our 20th anniversary is in October 2023, and we have opted not to renew the lease. It’s simply not worth the stress. Thank you for being part of this journey, and may better days lay ahead for us all.”
Accompanying the post was a photograph of a motorcycle rider driving down a long desert roadway with a quote from late Rush drummer Neil Peart: “I don’t regret that the ride has to be over, but rather feel grateful for the miles traveled, for the sights along the way, and to be exactly where I am.”
Restaurant co-founder and owner Jeremy Colby, contacted for this story, confirmed the closure but did not comment further.
From the early 1980s to 2000, the commercial space being vacated by Colby’s operated as Karen’s Restaurant, then became Roxanne’s Restaurant under the ownership of Diane Giese.
In 2003, Colby, then 30 years old and working at Roxanne’s, bought the establishment with former business partner Keith Barringer and transformed it into his own namesake dine-in and takeout location. The two added a new stove, changed the sign hanging outside the building and made a few interior upgrades, and opened their restaurant less than two weeks after the sale was finalized.
"There are tons of places for dinner but not breakfast," Colby said at the time about Portsmouth’s dining scene.
Colby, a longtime waiter at the former New York-style Goldi’s Deli on Penhallow Street, later became the sole proprietor of Colby’s business in 2007. That year, Barringer and Brook Gassner opened Rudi’s Portsmouth, then five years later opened Rudi’s Market Square, both of which were closed in January 2022.
In 2013, celebrating the business’ 10-year anniversary, Colby, who continued waiting tables while owning the restaurant, spoke about the simplicity of his menu in an interview with the Portsmouth Herald.
"We have a lot of complicated food in Portsmouth,” he said. “It's intimidating for people sometimes. People will avoid the complicated so it opens up a niche for a simpler menu. More people who get into this business are chefs, and we have a ton of chef-owned places in Portsmouth. I'm not a chef. I'm just a line cook."
Particularly on weekend mornings, it was not uncommon for customers on the restaurant’s waitlist to mill around in front of the building as servers moved about carrying heaping breakfasts and coffee pots. Colby, whose restaurant had a short and narrow alleyway leading to an outdoor patio, took pride in purchasing fresh products from local, independently owned vendors.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Colby's Breakfast & Lunch of Portsmouth closes
