Overview
- Vine Hospitality announced on Monday that it has ceased operations and will close all seven of its Bay Area restaurants, triggering roughly 300 layoffs over the next two days.
- The closures affect Left Bank Brasserie in Menlo Park, Petite Left Bank in Tiburon, Left Bank locations in Larkspur and Santana Row, Meso Modern Mediterranean at Santana Row, and LB Steak locations at Santana Row and Bishop Ranch in San Ramon.
- CEO Alistair Levine told reporters the group was unable to secure additional partner capital for two planned San Francisco openings and cited volatile ingredient prices as key pressures on operating margins.
- Some staff said they learned of the shutdown with little warning and customers found locations locked or closing early, leaving reservations, private events and employee incomes suddenly uncertain.
- Vine was founded in 1994 and expanded into multiple concepts over three decades; the company changed leadership in November 2024, has closed other sites in the past year, and is defending a 2024 wage and termination lawsuit it says did not drive the recent closures.