Cafe and juice bar closes flagship SLO spot after 9 years. ‘Our stepping stone’
The Neighborhood cafe in San Luis Obispo bid farewell to its flagship location last weekend, ending nearly nine years of business on Foothill Boulevard.
Co-owner Chris Herrera told The Tribune that the eatery decided to close its location at 973 E. Foothill Blvd. because the lease on the location was ending, which pushed owners to consider what the future of the business looked like.
Herrera said The Neighborhood’s other location in Paso Robles has been doing very well, and when The Neighborhood opened another cafe in the San Luis Obispo Public Market in 2021, it took about 25% of the Foothill location’s business.
“We just weren’t able to recoup it,” he said. “In the end it was just something that’s not really worth the time anymore.”
Herrera added that he and his business partner Doug Wells recently purchased Colony Market and Deli in Atascadero and wanted the freedom to focus more on that new business, as well as the two other Neighborhood spots in Paso Robles and SLO.
“It was a tough, tough decision for us because that was our stepping stone,” Herrera said of the Foothill spot. “That was our first location. We were there for over nine years, but it ended up being the right business move.”
The Neighborhood opened in 973 E. Foothill Blvd. in 2015, selling acai bowls, smoothies and made-to-order juices.
Herrera, a Cal Poly graduate, said he and Wells opened the business with “no real experience” beyond some time working in restaurants and the belief that it could be a good business model. Over time, they began to get into a groove with it, adding a cold press juicing machine and more plant-based foods to satisfy health-conscious customers.
But it’s been those customers who have truly kept them going for nearly a decade, he said.
“We came in as a brand new restaurant and had no idea it was such a big learning curve,” Herrera said. “We made so many mistakes and (customers) rode with us for so long. ... We just wouldn’t be where we are today without them and my employees for sure.”
Though one location is shutting down, Herrera said they are not opposed to opening a new one in a different spot.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” he said. “I know that our locations are doing really well, and I feel like we have really good spots. We do feel like location, location, location — if there is another good location out there, we feel like that would be a good business model.”
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