SAN BRUNO (KRON)—A popular Bay Area restaurant closes its doors without notice.
Pasta Pomodoro has 15 locations. Employees tell KRON4 they found out about the closure through a text message.
KRON4’s Charles Clifford went to one of the locations in San Bruno.
Bryan Vasquez was a host at Pasta Pomodoro in san Bruno. He worked last Friday and then day after Christmas he lost his job in one of the worst ways possible.
“I got a text,” Vasquez said.
On Monday, Pasta Pomodoro management informed its employees via text message that the company had ceased operations that all employees are now on unpaid furlough. They were told not come to work and that their final paychecks would arrive by Friday. When Vasquez came to the restaurant looking for answers he found locked doors and these signs.
“It’s like the worst timing for it to close right after Christmas,” he said. “Everyone spent their money. We were just expecting to come back to work after Christmas.”
It appears that all 15 Pasta Pomodoro locations around the Bay Area have suffered the same fate, putting hundreds of people out of work during the holidays. It’s also unclear why the company has shut down.
Pasta Pomodoro was founded in San Francisco in 1994. In 2012, the original owners of the restaurant chain sold it to a private equity firm.
We tried to contact Pasta Pomodoro management by phone and email, but as of late Wednesday no one had responded. We also tried to visit an address listed on the company’s website, but it turned out to be a post office box in a San Bruno shopping mall.
Vasquez says he’s disappointed by losing a good job, but he’s trying not to let it get him down.
“I don’t want to get to deep into it, I’m just trying to move on,” he said
As of Wednesday, there has been no mention of the shutdown on Pasta Pomodoro’s website, Twitter feed, or numerous Facebook pages.