Spenard Roadhouse, Snow City and South to temporarily close to all customers, stop offering takeout

Updated: April 3, 2020 Published: April 2, 2020

Snow City Cafe server Selena Parten sanitized the entrance doors on Thursday, March 19, 2020. Parten said she was "trying to keep them clean for the public" as customers stopped by for takeout orders during the coronavirus outbreak. (Bill Roth / ADN)

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The restaurant group that owns the popular Anchorage eateries Snow City Cafe, Spenard Roadhouse and South Restaurant + Coffeehouse announced Thursday that it would be temporarily shutting down the establishments starting at the end of Friday, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“As much as we love seeing you, we need to stay healthy and we need you to stay healthy,” the Locally Grown Restaurants group said in a message to customers Thursday. “We want to be here for you when this is over, and with that in mind, we will gently close our doors for a while.”

The restaurants are the latest local eateries to shut down after initially offering takeout and to-go service during the coronavirus pandemic. Many other restaurants remain open for takeout and delivery in the city.

More than 300 employees had already been laid off from Snow City, Spenard Roadhouse and South Restaurant + Coffeehouse, management said. A small crew had been providing takeout, allowed under city and state public health mandates.

Crush Wine Bistro and Cellar, also owned by the group, will remain open for takeout service for now.

Local chain Kaladi Brothers Coffee closed its retail cafes on March 25 “until we can safely reopen.”

SteamDot Coffee Co., another locally owned chain, has also closed cafes, as has fried-chicken institution Lucky Wishbone, among others.

Businesses have cited concerns about keeping employees healthy and observing social distancing.

In the Thursday statement, management of the Locally Grown restaurant group steered customers to takeoutak.com, a website listing still-open options for take-home meals, and promised to return.

“Humans weren’t designed to do this social distance thing forever!” they wrote.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.