News

Locanda da Eva restaurant to close after four months

November 19, 2010 9:30 am by Tracey Taylor

Locanda da Eva on a busy night -- but the restaurant is closing on Sunday

The Chronicle’s Inside Scoop reported last night that Locanda da Eva on Telegraph Avenue, which opened at the end of July, will have its last day of business this Sunday after failing to find a sufficiently big customer base.

The restaurant, which served California-inspired Italian fare, is owned by first-time restaurateur Robert Lauriston, formerly SF Weekly’s restaurant critic. Lauriston told the Chronicle that business just didn’t pick up enough, even after a remodel earlier this month.

“What surprised me the most was that there was so little I was qualified to do. If I was to do it again, I’d take a few accounting classes at a community college beforehand,” he admitted.

Locanda followed in a long line of restaurants that have occupied the space at 2826 Telegraph, including Maritime East, Zax Tavern, Mazzini Trattoria, Lucio’s and Casa de Eva.

Read the full story at Inside Scoop.

7 Comments

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  • Alicia

    Wow, that’s too bad. Part of it is definitely the economy. Part of it I think was the offerings. We liked the food OK, but there wasn’t anything there that was really that compelling to come back for repeatedly. As a neighbor I’m sorry to see the restaurant go, we’d really like to see a successful restaurant there. Regards to Mr. Lauriston. The restaurant business is a tough one.

  • http://stefanco.com Stefan Lasiewski

    It’s too bad to see yet another restaurant leave that storefront.

    Unfortunately it’s not a very good location. I worked half a block from this location for 3 years, I don’t think anyone in our office ever ate at any of the restaurants in that location. College Ave was the big draw, as well as Temescal and Telegraph near the University.

    Really, we couldn’t always tell if the restaurants at 2826 Telegraph were open or not– some of the businesses seemed to be in a state of perpetual remodeling.

  • Bryan Garcia

    I think a big problem for this spot is the location. It’s not an area that really gets a lot of foot traffic, at least at night, and it’s easy to miss it when you’re driving past. There are other businesses on this block, such as Looking Glass Photo, Mud Rakers cafe, and a couple of hair/nail salons, but most of them close up at night and the other surrounding buildings are just offices.

    Not sure how Tai San, a mediocre Chinese restaurant across the street, survives, but my best guess would be that they serve really low-cost, high-profit-margin food.

    I think the next restaurant to occupy the space ought to try and be a more affordable place that can serve the office workers for lunch and the locals for dinner. The location is just not right for a higher end place.

  • Josh

    That’s a shame. I thought it was a really nice place. Good food and service. It is a large place so I imagine the rent is high. Also, I think restaurants need more time. Owners need to plan on operating for a year or more before you can tell if they will stick. Good luck to Mr. Lauriston on his next endeavor.

  • Amy

    Shucks! I live within walking distance, and I had heard good things. We intended to go one of these days. It’s true: that location is tough. Although I live nearby, I habitually head to Elmwood or Temescal for food–areas where there are clusters of cafes and lots of foot traffic.

  • John Seal

    Location was not Locanda de Eva’s only problem–Casa de Eva managed to stay in business there for a long time. Casa de Eva was good and inexpensive Mexican-American eats (far superior to the way overrated Juan’s Place); Locanda de Eva was ever so slightly above average California cuisine, but it was not inexpensive. Rent for such a large space must also have been substantial.

  • Georgia

    Was it the location? Not too many restaurant spots on that block.