10/03/2023
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END
Red Ridge Restaurant has closed its doors due to rising costs.
Madeline and I would like to thank our staff and the many local and out-of-town friends (no one who came to our restaurant will ever be just a customer) who joined us on our journey.
We won't candycoat it--the adventure has been tough: investing our life savings, working 80-hour weeks to cook delicious meals while struggling to make payroll, rent, and all of the myriad things small businesses everywhere face. We haven't been perfect by any means, but we have never stopped trying to do our best.
These are the hard truths we learned: our model of using the freshest locally-sourced or purchased ingredients whenever possible appealed to our friends but hit our bottom line hard as food prices have risen. Utility costs have skyrocketed. Labor costs are high for good people, and we've been blessed to have had a lot of great folks on our team. Critically, during the last few months of operations, our business declined 40% from the first few months as we went from being the "new kid on the block" to becoming just another restaurant in town.
All of this might have been possible to overcome except for the final lesson we learned: own your business location or get a long-term lease if you don't own the space. Our landlord, frustrated with dealing with our growing pains, raised our rent to a level that made it impossible for us to continue operations.
Madeline and I are grateful to everyone who supported us, to each and every person who came in and enjoyed our meals, for all of the positive--and ofttimes glowing--reviews friends have left, for all of the birthdays and anniversaries and date nights we've gotten to share. The memories we've made because life happens over food will always be with us.
To our friends who came and looked forward to coming back again and again, a heartfelt and sincere apology.
To the folks we didn't get a chance to meet and to cook for, we wish we could have had that chance.
To everyone who commented on earlier posts re: our closing, thanks so much for your support and kind words. We appreciate it!
They say when one door closes another opens. We will let you all know where we land should another opportunity for us to continue open up like that proverbial door.
THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL, FOR MAKING OUR ADVENTURE MEMORABLE AND WORTHWHILE!!!