One closed, the other has new owners — here’s what’s up with 2 Arroyo Grande restaurants

Some big changes are coming to two restaurants in the Village of Arroyo Grande.

Sconos, which replaced Comfort Market at 116 Branch St. in July, appears to have closed sometime in October — although exactly when and why the restaurant shut its doors is unclear.

When reached by phone on Tuesday, Sconos owner and chef Jon Cervantes told The Tribune he was “not making comments on that right now.”

Sconos specialized in Italian-style tapas. The restaurant was Cervantes’ first solo effort as a chef, The Tribune reported in July.

As of Tuesday, the Branch Street building was still vacant, with no indication that a new business was coming in.

Just a few buildings down, Alphy’s Broiler — a popular salad and sandwich stop in the Village — is now under new management.

Brothers Lance and Doug Simpson opened the restaurant at 130 Branch St. in 2005, serving salads, sandwiches, wraps, soups and breakfast items.

Now Brett Collins and his wife, Kacey Noel Collins, are in charge of the restaurant Collins is the brother of Brian Collins, owner of popular Arroyo Grande restaurant Ember..

The business’s alcohol license is still listed under Doug Simpson’s name as of Tuesday, but a notice of application for ownership change spotted in the front window Tuesday shows the Collinses are in the process of switching the license to their names.

The application notice also reveals that the couple intend to change the business’s name to Sidewalk Cafe.

The restaurant was closed Tuesday for a plumbing issue, but was expected to reopen Wednesday. In the meantime, it appears to still be operating under the Alphy’s Broiler name.

Collins did not respond to a request for comment from The Tribune on Tuesday.