Quick Take
After 38 years, French-inspired Aptos restaurant Cafe Sparrow will close its doors at the end of the month. The owners blame inflated operating costs and say it's no longer feasible to keep the restaurant open.
After 38 years in business, French-inspired Aptos restaurant Cafe Sparrow is preparing to close at the end of the week. Its last day of service will be Sunday, April 28.
The restaurant was never able to fully recover from inflation, which has soared in the aftermath of the pandemic, says chef Donnie Suesens. Suesens co-owns Cafe Sparrow with his wife, Bailey Suesens, and his in-laws, Bob and Julie Montague, who purchased the restaurant in 1989. He says it’s “not a feasible task” to keep the restaurant open anymore and blamed rising costs and inflation in an Instagram post announcing the closure.
Donnie Suesens says it’s too expensive to operate the restaurant, and it isn’t serving enough guests to make ends meet. “Instead of burning money to operate the restaurant without the clientele that we need to pay the bills, we’re pulling the plug,” said Suesens.
The overhead costs for everything from labor to utilities to ingredients have increased about 60% since the Suesenses took over managing Cafe Sparrow in 2021 and became co-owners with the Montagues, Bailey’s parents. The price of beef tenderloins, for example, has doubled in the past four years from $15 per pound to almost $30 per pound, slashing the profit margin on one of Cafe Sparrow’s most popular dishes, a filet mignon with peppered sauce Diane. Despite its $55 price tag, Suesens says the restaurant doesn’t make a profit on it.
“Almost every single night that we’re open, I sell a minimum of 20 of those, and I don’t make money on them,” Suesens said. The price has been the same for the past three years, and they kept it on the menu to make their customers happy. “As a restaurant, we’re in the hospitality industry. We’re here to make people happy. And that was one of those things that I have to have because my customers want it,” he said.
They did remove another popular menu item, the filet mignon with lobster, after the price point rose to $85. Suesens says he couldn’t stomach offering it to customers at that price, and people weren’t willing to pay for it. “It doesn’t make sense. I would rather have a price point that’s appropriate for locals,” said Suesens. “Yes, we rely on tourists, but it’s the locals that you see on a regular basis. Those are the ones that you build a real relationship with. Those are the ones you build a community with.”
He isn’t sure what’s next for the restaurant or his family. The building at 8042 Soquel Drive, which the owners of Cafe Sparrow do not own, is currently listed for sale for $1.4 million. Most of the restaurant’s staff have found other jobs, and the Montagues will now officially retire. Suesens says he and his wife are considering opening a catering business or private chef services.
After the restaurant announced the closure, reservations surged. Suesens says they have around 1,400 guests booked between now and Sunday.
“It’s fantastic,” said Suesens. “I’m very grateful to the community. We feel very blessed and we’re happy to go out with a bang.”
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