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By Douglas Trattner

For one of the first times in his modern professional career, Michael Symon has the unenviable task of shutting down a restaurant. At 3 p.m. today, the staff of Bar Symon in Avon Lake learned that their restaurant — and their jobs — will close for good on October 30.

“This is the first time in our company that we’ve had to close down a restaurant,” said a clearly-wounded Symon. “It’s not that the restaurant wasn’t doing well or was losing money. It’s just that we weren’t doing the kind of volume required for that price point.”

Symon added that the Bar Symon brand is far from dead: It continues at Quicken Loans Arena and will one day take form elsewhere. “Of all the concepts, Bar Symon is still my favorite. We’ll just have to find a better home for it.”

Not everybody will be losing their jobs: Bar Symon executive chef Matthew Harlan will move back to Tremont, where he will swap the chef’s toque for a necktie as Lolita’s general manager. “He enjoys being in the front of the house talking to people,” Symon said. “The best GMs are the ones who not only have good understanding about the restaurant business, but also can talk passionately about the food.”

Meanwhile, Bar Symon GM Nolan Cleary will relocate to Lola on East Fourth St., where he will join the team as manager. — Douglas Trattner

This article appears in Oct 13-19, 2010.

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

6 replies on “Michael Symon Closing Bar Symon in Avon Lake”

  1. What is the difference between not making money and “not doing enough volume for that price point”. I can understand the lack of volume. I ate there one time and it was a lousy meal. When I gave my feedback to the manager, he rudely brushed me off. I certainly didn’t get the feeling that I was getting a great “price point” on my meal either. I’m thinking the word “execution” is more appropriate here.

  2. I think this is too bad. I don’t like it when this happens to anyone, but especially I don’t like it when it happens to someone this competent and nice. We’ve eaten there a few times and … as always at Michael’s restaurants … we’ve had delicious food and impeccable service.

  3. I bet the lease is up for renewal, and Symon wasn’t making enough to continue in that space. That would explain not “doing the kind of volume required for that price point.”

  5. The restaurant in NYC wasn’t his. He was hired to open it and do the menu, but it was owned and operated by other people.

  6. This man is a talented chef and intelligent businessman, we’d love to have you in Medina. The old Grand Market is sitting vacant on the square.

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