The McCormick & Schmick’s downtown location inside the Omni Hotel closed unexpectedly Wednesday after a New Year’s Eve celebration the night before.
Many employees arrived for work Wednesday and were informed of the restaurant’s closure, according to a former employee that wanted to remain anonymous.
Another former employee said a representative of the company that owns McCormick and Schmick's, Landry's Corporate, was there greeting workers and giving them information about reapplying for other jobs.
NBC 7 reached out to communications personnel and public relations staff for both the Omni Hotel and Landry’s but has not received comment as the offices were closed for the holiday.
Up until Tuesday night, the high-end restaurant in downtown San Diego was known for its steaks, seafood and oysters. As of Wednesday evening, its website still showed the advertisement for the New Year's Eve celebration at all its locations.
Just last week, another high-end restaurant under different ownership -- Donovan's Steakhouse -- closed one of its locations in La Jolla also without warning or a reason. In both cases customers were left confused and disappointed, and employees were left scrambling to find other work.
By mid-afternoon, the restaurant had reopened under a different name, “West Coast Social.” Employees of the hotel and the new restaurant would not comment on why the restaurant had closed.
