Rancho Cucamonga Toby Keith’s I This Bar & Grill is closed

Longtime reader Carl tipped us off Monday night that the Victoria Gardens Toby Keith’s I This Bar & Grill has closed.

It’s just the latest of a string of closures for the chain, but whatever happened, happened pretty quickly: Yelp reviews indicate the restaurant was open Sunday night and the restaurant’s Twitter page posted a link early Monday morning to its now-nonexistent Facebook page.

A Love and Theft concert slated to take place at the venue on September 24 has been cancelled.

Several of the chain’s locations across the country have closed in the last year or so, including a Phoenix restaurant that opened earlier this year.

In August, workers in Cincinnati sued the chain for non-payment of wages and concealing the restaurant’s shutdown in July of this year. That location also had several legal issues.

Other recently shuttered locations include Oxnard, Folsom, Syracuse, N.Y., Newport News, Va., Tucson, Ariz., Orlando, Fla., Woodbridge, Va., Orange Beach, Ala., St. Louis Park, Minn., and Houston. A Rosemont, Ill. location is facing an eviction trial in October.

The restaurants are operated by Phoenix-based Boomtown Entertainment.

I This Bar & Grill? Well…maybe not so much.

The Rancho Cucamonga location, which opened in April 2012, was at 12635 North Main St.

El Kiosco Mexican Restaurant to remain in Rialto location

It’s been a roller coaster month for the owners of Rialto’s El Kiosco Mexican Restaurant.

The restaurant closed late last month when the restaurant’s owners were unable to come to a new lease agreement with the property owners. It appeared that the Morden family would be vacating the spot in Rialto where they’ve operated their restaurant for 25 years and transferring their business to their Redlands location, El Kiosco Express.

The good news is they were finally able to come to an agreement with the property owners and have signed a new three-year lease for the Rialto location.

Continue reading “El Kiosco Mexican Restaurant to remain in Rialto location” »

Elephant Bar shuttering about a third of its locations

We knew that the San Bernardino Elephant Bar, 1050 E. Harriman Place, was closing, and have recently learned that it will close tomorrow (June 11). However, that’s not the end of the story. We’re hearing that at least 15 of the chain’s 44 locations — a little over a third — are closing this week. Continue reading “Elephant Bar shuttering about a third of its locations” »

Spring brings another round of Inland Empire restaurant changes

Regular readers of this blog know that if there is one constant here in the Inland Empire, at least in the food service industry, it is change.

Recently, it feels as if that change has accelerated, highlighted by a few major restaurant closures.

Two of those closures happened at the end of May.

Both Redlands’ Farm Artisan Foods and Highland’s SportsWatch Bar and Grill closed May 31.

Continue reading “Spring brings another round of Inland Empire restaurant changes” »

Last day for Farm Artisan Foods

Tacked on as a postscript to a story regarding a Redlands restaurant swap (Papaya Bay moving into the old Mikan/Wild Rocket space, Pieology moving into Papaya Bay’s old location), we learned that Roberto Argentina announced Tuesday via Facebook that today (May 31) would be the last day of business for Farm Artisan Foods.

Good luck getting a reservation.

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Fiesty Chicken down for the count

FeistyFeisty Chicken & Grill, with locations in Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario and Glendora, has apparently flown the coop.

I first noticed that the Glendora location was closed several weeks ago. A sign posted in the window indicated they were remodeling and would reopen soon.

Never a good sign.

Last week I drove by the Rancho Cucamonga location. Same thing.

This week I checked on the Ontario location and found the sign you see above. No work was actively going on inside the restaurant.

I’m not holding my breath.

Continue reading “Fiesty Chicken down for the count” »

Yucaipa Pizza Chalet is on the move

Yucaipa’s Pizza Chalet is on the move!

Its lease was not renewed at its longtime location at 34579 Yucaipa Blvd., so the owners moved the pizzeria about a block down the street to 34299 Yucaipa Blvd., in the former Community Bank building.

The new location was scheduled to open last week, but the opening was pushed back due to problems with the gas meter installation.

For updates, check the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Update: The restaurant is open at its new location and is hiring! Click here for details.

Darby’s American Cantina takes over from Charlie Jewell’s

We definitely didn’t see this one coming.

Unbeknownst to us, downtown Redlands’ Charlie Jewell’s closed toward the end last year.

Shortly before the new year, Darby’s American Cantina opened in its place.

The new restaurant is designed to be more family-friendly than its former tenant.

Continue reading “Darby’s American Cantina takes over from Charlie Jewell’s” »