Daily Dining News: RIP Lounge ON20
May 29, 2012
I guess we should have seen this coming when chefs Pajo Bruich and Mike Ward left Lounge On 20 three weeks ago. Lounge ON20 served its last drink on Saturday night, reports Chris Macias in the Sac Bee.
Following the departure of Bruich and Ward, Lounge ON20 reverted to a bar food program and emphasis on its nightlife offerings.
"There were a lot of factors (behind the closure), but at some point you have to look at things realistically," Mackani said.
Lounge ON20, at 1050 20th Street, was Mackani's second Sacramento restaurant to fold. He's the former owner of Restaurant 55 Degrees on Capitol Mall, which shut down in 2008 after nearly three years in business.
The pending closure of Lounge ON20 has left Mackani frustrated. He's now planning to move from Sacramento to San Francisco.
At the end of the piece, seems to blame his multiple restaurant failures on the city. "Sacramento needs to grow up," says Mackani. I think it's Mackani who needs to look in the mirror if he wants to know why he's failed -- twice. Under Chef Bruich, Lounge ON20 had great food, but those who can afford to spend $120 on dinner for two don't want to do it in a club setting. It's not that Sacramento can't afford that price point -- see the successful Ella, Mulvaney's, Waterboy, etc. -- but that we didn't want to spend that kind of money on what you were offering where you were offering it. I wish Mackani good luck in San Francisco, but as we've seen, when one restaurant fails, another takes its place and often with something better.
Read the entire article in the Sac Bee.
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