Surprising Shutter
Upscale East Austin restaurant says au revoir and abruptly closes its doors
In a surprise announcement on Saturday, laV Restaurant & Wine Bar’s owner Ralph Eads took to Facebook to share news of the French restaurant’s closure.
“While we are extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished since opening, we’ve come to see that it’s not fiscally feasible to continue to operate laV at its current level. Rather than cutting corners or providing an experience that doesn’t hold up to the high standards we’ve set for ourselves, we’ve decided to close the restaurant.”
The upscale east side eatery’s shuttering comes as a shock. LaV opened to praise in March 2014 and obtained a slew of accolades including Wine Enthusiast’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants earlier this year and former sommelier Vilma Mazaite being named as Food & Wine’s top sommeliers of 2015.
The last night of service was laV’s Big Fancy Dance Party on December 31, 2015, with no indication the restaurant would be closing. On January 1, laV posted the following to its Facebook page:
“Thank you, Austin, for an incredible evening — we couldn't imagine a better way to kick off 2016. We are closed today, but look forward to seeing you all for regular brunch and dinner service tomorrow.”
Just over 24 hours later, the restaurant announced it had closed for good.
The East Seventh Street restaurant joins a handful of others that have had the misfortune of closing their doors over the past year.
