Splash Cafe is closing its San Luis Obispo location. Here’s why
Sorry, San Luis Obispo residents: If you want Splash Cafe’s iconic clam chowder, you’ll have to start going to Pismo Beach to get it.
The popular seafood restaurant is set to close its location at 1491 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo at the end of October, the company announced on Wednesday.
“We have loved every minute of the 18 years we have been in SLO and all of the relationships we have made with the local residents and the community,” CEO Joanne Currie said in a news release. “This decision did not come lightly. There are so many people we will miss, and I want to say that it has been an honor and a privilege to have gotten to know you.”
The San Luis Obispo location is one of two on the Central Coast.
The original Splash Cafe opened at 97 Pomeroy Ave. in Pismo Beach in 1989, followed by the Monterey Street spot in 2003.
A third, since-shuttered spot in SLO’s Downtown Centre shopping plaza closed at the end of 2017 due to stagnant revenues and a new focus on marketing and distributing food products, Currie told The Tribune at the time.
The Monterey Street location is closing as Currie plans to sell the building and move the company’s bakery to a commercial kitchen space “to meet the growing demands of the bakery,” according to the release.
“Moving the artisan bakery to a commercial kitchen with a new, professional-grade oven and equipment will allow us to expand our bakery and catering operations,” Currie said in the release. “We’ll also be able to fill more online orders, which is something we’ve been working toward the last couple of years.”
The restaurant’s clam chowder and other goods can still be bought at the Pismo Beach location and on the business’ website, according to the release.
On the website, San Luis Obispo County residents can also order custom cakes and cupcakes for delivery.
According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice filed by Splash Cafe with the the California Employment Development Department, a total of 29 employees were laid off due to the closure.
Currie said the company has offered severance packages to Splash Cafe employees impacted by the closure, as well as a transition program that “includes job offers as part of the bakery team or at the Pismo Beach location.”
“Taking care of our employees, the Splash Family, has always been important to us,” Currie said. “We created this program to give them as much notice and support as possible during the transition.”
The Monterey Street restaurant is set to close its doors Oct. 30.
