An Atascadero restaurant has closed its doors for good after nearly two-and-a-half years in business.
The president and CEO of Huckleberry’s, Ray Tavakoli, says a previous months-long road construction project in Atascadero is what led the company to shut the doors at 6910 El Camino Real for the final time. Signs are up at the location notifying customers of the closure and thanking them for their support.
Tavakoli says Tuesday was the restaurant’s last day.
With dozens of locations across the state, Huckleberry’s offers a southern-inspired atmosphere and menu for breakfast and lunch. The Atascadero location opened in August of 2023.
Tavakoli tells KSBY the company believes that construction in front of the restaurant’s entrance in 2024 and 2025 led to customers developing new traffic and dining patterns that he says never returned once work was complete.
He called it a “devastating blow to the restaurant’s revenue” and says once it was clear sales would not return to pre-construction levels, the Huckleberry franchisee “made the difficult decision to close the unit and focus on the other Huckleberry’s he co-owns.”
The work referenced by Tavakoli is the $12 million El Camino Real Project that wrapped up last summer. It added a parking kiosk with nearly 100 spots along El Camino Real, made the road one lane in each direction and shortened crosswalks while aiming to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
A City spokesperson tells KSBY the City worked closely with downtown business owners during the work, offering outreach, support and more.
The spokesperson says while the City understands that construction likely impacted downtown foot traffic at times, the work was done in phases and the parking lot to Huckleberry’s remained accessible throughout the project.
The spokesperson adds that they have not been made aware of any other businesses in the city closing as a result of the work and that the downtown area remained heavily traveled throughout construction.
The Huckleberry’s locations in Pismo Beach and Santa Maria remain open.
