Hardware Grill in downtown Edmonton has closed its doors for good, the restaurant tweeted on Saturday afternoon.
“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we inform you that Hardware Grill is permanently closed for business,” read a tweet addressed to “customers and friends,” which was attributed to restaurant owners Larry and Melinda Stewart. “Our employees were hardworking, dedicated and we are grateful for their service.”
The eatery has been a fixture on Jasper Avenue since 1996.
Hardware Grill garnered many accolades over the years, including appearances on lists ranking the best restaurants in Canada.
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The president of Primavera Development Group, which is currently working to redevelop the Brighton Block next door, said it’s too early to say what impact the restaurant’s closure might have on the area.
“The closing of the Hardware Grill is a disappointment,” Ken Cantor said Monday. “But then you have to turn around and say, the Hardware Grill was successful for almost a quarter of a century. And that says something different than a closing on its own says.
“Whether that’s one step forward, two steps back — we’ll know in a year or two. Because Larry’s leaving is potentially an opportunity for somebody else to be equally as successful for the next 25 years.”
Global News has attempted to contact the owners of Hardware Grill to ask why it closed.
Watch below: (From 2012) Fletcher Kent looks at the changing business landscape in an Edmonton area known as The Quarters. One of the businesses in the area is Hardware Grill.
The Stewarts have previously owned Tavern 1903, which closed in 2014.
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With files from Caley Ramsay, Global News.