Popular Restaurants Around Bay Area Abruptly Close, Laying Off Hundreds: Reports

BAY AREA — Seven Bay Area restaurants specializing in French, American and Mediterranean cuisine will close this week, according to reports in the Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle.

Vine Hospitality CEO Alistair Levine confirmed to The Chronicle Monday that the group will cease operations and all seven restaurants it manages will close between Monday and Wednesday, resulting in roughly 300 employees being laid off.

The closure includes the popular Left Bank restaurants, French restaurants that became known for their Bastille Day celebrations in addition to their French cuisine and dining atmosphere.

Restaurants slated for closure include:

• Left Bank Brasserie in Menlo Park, Larkspur, and San Jose
• Petite Left Bank in Tiburon
• LB Steak in San Ramon and San Jose
• Meso Modern Mediterranean in San Jose

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that our Left Bank restaurants will be closing,” Left Bank Brasserie and Petite Left Bank said in an Instagram post. “We are incredibly grateful for every meal shared, every toast raised, and every memory created with us.”

According to the post, Petite Left Bank Tiburon closes Monday, Left Bank Menlo Park and Santana Row close Tuesday, and Left Bank Larkspur closes Wednesday. LB Steak’s San Ramon location closes Monday, and its Santa Row location closes Wednesday, according to the Chronicle.

Jeff Dodd, senior vice president of retail at City Center, told Patch in a statement that City Center is “actively exploring options for the space and looks forward to sharing updates in the coming months.”

Levine told The Chronicle that the closures are the result of a “challenging operating environment,” in addition to two unopened restaurants in San Francisco that “exploded at the last second.”

Employees were first informed Monday morning, management staff at three locations informed the Mercury News. “It’s shocking,” one employee hired three months ago told the paper.

Levine said employees will receive their final earned wages and vacation pay.

Levine’s late father Ed Levine and French chef Roland Passot started Vine Hospitality in 1994, with the opening of Left Bank in Larkspur. Over the past 30 years, it expanded all over the region, though the past few years have proved challenging. Vine closed Rollati Ristorante in San Jose last summer, less than two years after it opened. Left Bank Brasserie’s Oakland location also closed in 2024.

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