Gallagher's, Ben Benson's and Stage Deli all went south here in midtown in the past 6 months

I never got to try El Bulli.
:'(

Sometimes there is a bright side!

I do consulting in a number of places in California, among them the city of Merced in the central valley. There was a great little cafe in Merced which typified the kinds of friendly places with great food that you used to find in a lot of places before Denny's and the other bland chains metastasized and drove them out of business.

I used to drop in at "Paul's Place" for breakfast every morning I was in town, and they would see me drive up and have my coffee and juice on my table by the time I walked in the door. The service was spectacular, and all the regulars would wander in and banter with the gregarious waitresses, oftentimes with hugs all around. It was a great way to start the day.

One day last winter I drove up to find the place shuttered up, with smoke stains through a few windows. A week or two later a sign was up saying "Closed due to fire.". As the months went by without visible changes, I assumed the place was gone for good, the victim of a serious glitch in the midst of an already terrible economy. I didn't have much hope that they'd ever be back.

Four or five months after that, though, as I was driving by on the way to the poor substitute I had found, I saw a few cars out front, and saw the hand lettered sign was gone.

I drove up, walked in, and was greeted by name with a big smile, pointed to my favorite table with coffee and juice in place, and given a hug by my favorite waitress.

I'm sitting in Paul's Place now sipping some nice brunch coffee.

Sometimes things turn out well!
:D

20 years? That's a pretty long outlook for a business plan in the restaurant industry!

:( I'm mourning the loss of my favorite restaurant, alejandro's. although, they've opened up in a different location, I noticed that it wasn't the same. It's never going to be the same. :'(

We found this absolute gem of a family ristorante in a small Tuscan town on holiday ten years ago, ate there almost every day for a week. Last summer we finally went there on holiday again and virtually ran to the restaurant as soon as we got there - only to find the place had been turned into a crappy tourist trap pizzeria...
I realize you can't expect a restaurant to be the same after ten years, but we had looked forward to it so much...

Red Light when Jackie Shen was there. Miss the famed chocolate box.

Le Relais de l'Isle in Île Saint-Louis, Paris. :( The lovely couple who runs the place already retired...

Although it closed nearly 25 years ago, I find myself pining every now and then for La Plaza in Denver, on south Colorado Blvd. Not the best Mexican, especially in a place like Denver, but man, I miss it. My family - very much the stay-home-for-dinner type - went there at least once a month. We had a regular waitress, "Pinky", and the owner reminded me of John Astin from his Addams Family days. It had a really cool indoor courtyard with a fountain, sunlights, and faux tropical plants. Cheesy? Sure. Authentic? Not really. But I loved that place.

several
 

About ten years ago I visited an Asian vegan restaurant in Rancho San Bernardo (north of San Diego). On this one visit I had a perfect meal. I returned two weeks later and it was gone. I visit San Diego often and had hoped to enjoy this place for many years to come.
I still miss Cranks in London (Covent Gardens and other locations).
I miss Hausner's in Baltimore, Md. Not especially for the food. More for the atmosphere, gemuetlichkeit and family memories.
I miss the Vegetable Garden in Rockville, Md. I have friends who live right across the street from the restaurant and we used to meet occasionally for lunch at the Vegetable Garden. I liked it a lot.

In Shenzhen, back in 2006-2007, I'd go with friends nearly everyday for dinner to a Mid-Eastern restaurant called Sharazade. It was the only place close to my room that didn't serve a platter drowning in reused oil, moreover they had salads and well, food from that part of the world. Even though the baba ghanouj sometimes tasted like cheese, eating there was worth it for the healthiness factor alone.

It's always sad to see good restaurants come and go. they always have this special place in your heart and seeing them go just breaks your heart, but what can we do. The only thing that's left is all the good memories we have dining in with our favorite resto.

Moon Garden in Hoffman Estates, IL
 

When I was 16, this was the best Chinese restaurant. The food was amazing and the portions were ridiculous. The best part is they had a lunch special for $5 that included fried rice, your choice of entree and one fat ... tasty egg roll. This was in those half styrofoam containers and was FULL to the brim - this thing was heavy. For $5, you can get 3 decent meals or 2 gut-busting meals.

And this was not crappy Chinese either, it was well-made by a really wonderful family.

The place went downhill when it was sold to a different family. Not only were the portions slashed in half, you needed a microscope to find the seafood in it. Me being a smart ..., I once asked the owner if he purchased the shrimps from a pet shop!:D

LOL!!! ^

Crawdaddy Bayou in Wheeling Il. Had great Cajun food, live music and a fun atmosphere. Owner had a gambling problem and one day the place just closed up.

Now to the other end of the spectrum

Jack-in-the-box all of them closed a long time ago in Chicago. There was nothing like those grease ball tacos at 2AM after a night of drinking. :D