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mSharePea Soup Andersen's, a landmark roadside attraction, has closed its Buellton location. The Santa Nella location, seen here, will remain open. | Source:Smith Collection/Gado via Getty ImagesRoad trippers leaving San Francisco for Southern California know that there are two places to stop for excellent split pea soup and even better fried chicken: the Pea Soup Andersen’s on U.S. 101 near Solvang, and the other Pea Soup Andersen’s on Interstate 5 in Santa Nella.A year shy of its centennial, the 101 location—in the Central Coast town of Buellton, technically—has closed, as SFGate first reported. An icon of kitschy Danish culture recognizable...

The future of Boston Market is in jeopardy after owner Jignesh Pandya filed for personal bankruptcy on Dec. 8 with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court. The chain, which has over $329,000 in unpaid sales and payroll taxes, also had its headquarters seized by the Colorado Department of Revenue. Engage Brands, one of the Rohan Group of companies, owned by Pandya of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, purchased Boston Market from affiliates of Sun Capital Partners in 2020, the same year it also acquired Corner Bakery from affiliates of Roark Capital Partners. The Dallas-based bakery, however, filed for Chapter 11 earlier...

One of Manhattan's oldest restaurants, Delmonico's, is in the process of returning to the Financial District after being closed for nearly three years But there's a dispute over who holds the rights to the Delmonico's name The Grgurev family who operate Delmonico's Instagram account, claim new leaseholders of the location are using the Delmonico's name in bad faith ************************************************** The future of Delmonico's, the oldest steakhouse in the country which had been in operation since 1837 until the pandemic, appears to be at stake. The 186-year-old restaurant, set in the Financial District, also serves as the exterior shots for The...

Most New Yorkers may consider them rats with fluffy tails, but, elsewhere, squirrel has become a chic new menu item. As part of a growing ethical dining trend, chefs have begun serving up dishes made with the North American gray squirrel, an invasive species. “My original starting point with gray squirrel was taste. But it’s also great for the environment,” renowned Scottish chef Paul Wedgwood told the Guardian of the inspiration for adding gray squirrel to the menu of his Edinburgh restaurant Royal Mile in 2008. “It’s mellow, nutty and a bit gamey. It’s just a really nice flavor, and...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has ditched the Big Apple for sunny south Florida, prompting supporters of the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to hope she was “enjoying a taste of freedom.” The far-left “Squad” member was pictured hoisting a cocktail and checking her phone ​with an unknown companion ​at a table outside of ​the ​Doraku Izakaya and Sushi​ restaurant in Miami Beach, according to images obtained by National Review and published late Thursday. Ocasio-Cortez’s winter getaway comes as New York City is experiencing record-high numbers of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, with officials reporting more than 40,000 new...

At Vanessa’s Bistro in Berkeley, owner Vi Nguyen recently encountered a customer who stood in her kitchen doorway to yell at her after a server made a simple mistake. “Not talk, yell,” Nguyen emphasized, sounding increasingly exasperated as she told the story. “This was the beginning of the reopening, and we had a line of takeout orders. Her husband stood at the doorway and was like, ‘She's hungry! She needs her food right now!’”This wasn’t an isolated incident for Nguyen. Since California’s June 15 reopening of the economy, customers have gotten … a little difficult. Well, a lot difficult. Nguyen...

Takeout contributor Danny Palumbo recently wrote about how the fries at beloved West coast burger chain In-N-Out are very bad. Those are his words, not mine. These are now my words, not his: The fries at In-N-Out are bad. I still eat them, though, usually animal-style (mostly out of novelty, and yes, I know, I know, the fries get weird when the cheese starts cooling off, but I’m well aware of what I’m getting into). I get the obsession with In-N-Out. The burgers are awesome, and I love my Double-Doubles, animal-style. If I’m in an area that has an In-N-Out,...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and state health officials asked residents on Friday to avoid indoor dining and gave additional recommendations. In order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Whitmer is urging high schools to move to remote learning, asking diners to use outdoor dining or takeout, and recommending youth sports pause in-person activities for two weeks, WLUC reported.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci recommended Tuesday Americans not to go out to eat or go to a theater, even after getting the coronavirus vaccine. “There are things, even if you’re vaccinated, that you’re not going to be able to do in society: for example, indoor dining, theaters, places where people congregate,” he said. “That’s because of the safety of society.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that limited indoor dining will return to Big Apple bars and restaurants beginning Valentine’s Day as the rate of new coronavirus infections in the five boroughs continues to tick down. Local eateries have been pushing hard for the restoration of at least some indoor service as the coronavirus pandemic continues to crush their finances — and a string of cold snaps and winter storms has put a crimp on outdoor dining and further bitten into their bottom lines.

Philadelphia will lift its ban on indoor dining, theaters and in-person college instruction on Jan. 16 as Covid-19 cases continue to drop in the city. Restaurants will be allowed to have indoor dining at 25% of seating capacity. Colleges and universities will be allowed to resume in-person instruction, as well. City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley had said he would wait until after the holidays to evaluate the easing of restrictions. The city reported 637 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the citywide total of 98,215 since March. Theaters will also be allowed to reopen, with a cap of 5%...

As vaccines began being put into arms in New York City and indoor dining was shut down again Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that additional restrictions could be coming — potentially including a return to a full shutdown. “There’s the potential of having to do a full pause, a full shutdown, in the coming weeks, because we can’t let this kind of momentum go,” de Blasio said on CNN when asked about comments made by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week, in which the state’s top executive said a fuller shutdown could be in the offing this winter.

CORONAVIRUS IN NY Former de Blasio aide Kathryn Garcia makes her case for NYC mayor New York COVID-19 hospitalizations at highest numbers since May COVID-19 restrictions fueled NYC’s nation-leading drop in car crashes NYC school closes just one day after reopening due to COVID-19 cases Indoor dining will shut down yet again in New York City on Monday due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday. Cuomo, during a virtual press briefing, explained that the Big Apple’s coronavirus-related hospitalization rate has been dramatically increasing over the last two weeks.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) warned on Thursday that the closure of gyms and indoor dining experiences will “very likely” begin within the next two weeks. “So for everyone who honestly might feel, somehow, a little better if they knew that indoor dining was going to be closed or gyms were going to be closed, I’m sorry to tell you — for the sake of those business owners and everyone who loves those gyms and loves indoor dining — it’s just a matter of time,” de Blasio said, adding that it is “very likely to be in...

The Big Apple could shut down indoor dining next week if the coronavirus infection rate does not slow down, officials privately acknowledge. Under state rules, if New York City’s seven-day state testing average exceeds 3 percent for more than 10 days, it would hit Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s thresholds for imposing orange zone restrictions — which include shutting down indoor dining and a four-person limit on tables for outdoor dining.

Kane County Judge Kevin Busch granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the enforcement of an indoor dining ban at FoxFire restaurant in Geneva.. Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health is asking the Illinois Second District Appellate Court to reverse a decision by Kane County Judge Kevin Busch granting a temporary restraining order to prevent the enforcement of an indoor dining ban at FoxFire restaurant in Geneva. In their appeal, Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health ask for the order to be vacated and for the temporary restraining order to be dissolved. The appeal...

Gov. JB Pritzker is ordering bars and restaurants in Chicago to halt indoor service and to limit gatherings in the city at 25 people starting Friday as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. “Region 11 [the city of Chicago] is now averaging more than twice as many COVID-related hospital admissions per day as it was a month ago, with a positivity rate that has almost doubled since the beginning of October,” Pritzker said in a written statement Tuesday. According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago has seen eight straight days of increasing cases and seven...

Mayor suggests making outdoor dining a permanent facet of NYC One month after Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that outdoor dining would return in 2021, he’s now hinting that the Open Restaurants and Open Streets programs could become permanent fixtures of summertime dining. In a press conference on Monday, Mayor de Blasio referred to the dual programs — which allow restaurants to use sidewalk space for outdoor seating and closes popular streets to vehicular traffic, respectively — as “a great victory” for the city’s restaurants and bars. “Communities have loved Open Restaurants. Open Streets have been a great success,” he...

Political tyrants Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo must not be allowed to destroy the livelihoods of thousands of people in New York City. It is a disgrace that it has come to this, in what was once the worlds greatest city. ... Restaurants in New York City filed a $2 billion class-action lawsuit against city and state officials on Thursday, alleging the indoor dining ban caused “irreparable harm” to the city’s food and beverage industry and pushing for the return to indoor dining — the lawsuit marks the latest attempt to normalize the city through legal action....