Fans of the Mexican chain restaurant were met with disappointment this week when they drove by the longtime location at 2907 El Camino Real to find it empty and dark - closed suddenly, and without warning.
Fans turned to the restaurant chain's Facebook and Yelp pages to try and find answers.
"Sad to see that the Redwood City location closed," wrote Melanie Hellmann on the Chevy's Facebook page wall.
"One day open, the next day closed, [with] no reason....sad," wrote Tricia Y. of Atherton on the Redwood City location's Yelp.com page.
"I hate to lose Chevy's. Restaurant competition is fierce in this area, and there are other places to go, but their chips were addictive," wrote Julie D. of Redwood City on Yelp.
According to an Oct. 4 Bloomberg News article, the owner of RM Restaurant Holding Corp., the company that owns the chains of both Chevy's Fresh Mex and Acapulco restaurants, filed for bankruptcy recently, citing the downtown of the U.S. economy has led to a decline in sales.
Slowly, over the past few months, the company has been closing many of its U.S. restaurant locations - including the one in Redwood City.
Representatives of Chevy's have been responding to fans' outcries on the company's Facebook page.
"We're truly sad to see these locations close too," read a Facebook wall post on Dec. 19. "As you may know, Chevys is restructuring and have had to make the hard decisions to close certain locations in order to make Chevys stronger for the future. We thank you for your support and hope that we can continue to serve you in the future."
"Chevys is NOT going away," another message from the company relayed on Dec. 23. "We are doing this all in an attempt to make Chevys stronger for years to come. Thank you for your post and happy holidays to you too."
Some regulars expressed concern over what would happen to the restaurant's longtime employees, losing their jobs suddenly - especially right before the holidays.
"I will miss the food, but I also am sad for that location's great staff and hope that they find success in the future," wrote local fan Stuart Schmitt. "In particular, managers Kevin and Duncan were class acts, and Jinto was one of the most competent and thoughtful servers I have ever met. I wish them luck."
In response, a company representative said the company does its best to transfer employees who lose their jobs when a location closes to other, more successful locations.
"We’re glad to tell you that Kevin is still with Chevys, now in Santa Rosa, and Jinto is with Chevys in Mountain View," read the company's reply. "We were unable to relocate Duncan to another Chevys location, but he received tenure-based severance."
Though many are sad to see Chevys of Redwood City's downfall, new businesses have been popping up around Redwood City at an increasing rate lately, .
New restaurants and cafes in Redwood City over the past year include the American-style comfort food of , a new , , Japanese food, sandwiches from and , gourmet cupcakes from , and more.
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