‘What a bummer.’ Seaside SLO County restaurant closes suddenly after 48 years
Olde Port Inn suddenly closed its doors over the holidays, leaving many wondering what exactly happened to the popular seaside eatery near Avila Beach.
A sign decorated the front window of the Harford Pier restaurant on Tuesday, saying simply, “Olde Port Inn is closed. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
The sign, printed on Port San Luis Harbor District letterhead, urged patrons to visit one of the area’s two other restaurants.
The closure surprised some longtime customers.
“My husband and I arrived for our 7 p.m. dinner reservation on New Years Eve to find a sign that simply said you were closed and to go to a different restaurant on the pier,” read one Yelp review on the restaurant on Jan. 1. “We were shocked/sad/irritated. Is this it for the Olde Port Inn?”
Another review from Dec. 30 noted that the business looked as though “the staff walked away and shut the door. Trash everywhere. Bar items sitting as though they had just made drinks.”
“What a bummer,” the review read.
It’s unclear exactly when the business closed. The last post on the restaurant’s Facebook page invited customers to try its a special Thanksgiving menu on Nov. 28.
A request for comment from management was not returned Wednesday. The voicemail inbox for the restaurant’s listed phone number was full and its website had been removed.
Known for its seafood, the Olde Port Inn opened on the Harford Pier in 1971. The restaurant switched ownership in 2015 from Leonard Cohen to longtime chef and manager David Whitestine.
At the time, Whitestine told The Tribune he wasn’t planning any major changes to the restaurant, pending potential reconstruction projects on the pier.
Port San Luis Harbor District Manager Andrea Lueker said Wednesday evening that Whitestine closed the business in mid-December, a few weeks ahead of his lease with the district expiring in January.
Lueker said the district is in talks about what to do with the restaurant now, and specifically whether a new restaurant would be better located on the opposite side of the Harford Pier so that some needed renovations could take place on the structure.
She said the district will likely discuss that issue at its next regular meeting Jan. 28.
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 1:20 PM with the headline "‘What a bummer.’ Seaside SLO County restaurant closes suddenly after 48 years."
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