The Townhouse Restaurant, a fixture of Emeryville known for its century-old building and pasta and steak dinners, is set to close this weekend, as first reported by the E’ville Eye.
“As the economy and everything has changed, full-service restaurants aren’t doing as well as they used to,” owner Dan Seng told SFGATE. He said that unless he finds a private lender to provide a $2 million loan to purchase the property at 5862 Doyle St., The Townhouse’s final day will be June 20.
The Townhouse’s storied history dates back to 1926, when it was a speakeasy and bootlegging operation during Prohibition. It later became a country Western-themed bar and restaurant called Vernetti’s Townhouse that hosted live music until the early ’80s. It was also known as “City Hall East” during this time, as notorious former Emeryville Police Chief John LaCoste often entertained politicians at the restaurant. The Townhouse’s identity changed once again in the early 1990s, when French restaurateur Joseph LeBrun and chef Ellen Hope Rosenberg transformed it into a more elevated restaurant that started a West Coast cocktail renaissance, according to the E’ville Eye…