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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Craft Cuisine falls victim to pandemic, forced to close doors

Craft Cuisine was forced to close its doors last month amidst the global pandemic that has forced the closures of a multitude of businesses in Ocala.

The restaurant, which was located at 2237 SW 19th Avenue Rd., operated its location for more than four years before closing down on Dec. 10.

“Four years ago, I had a dream of a new restaurant concept that would bring elevated and innovative dishes to Ocala,” reads a Facebook post on the company’s page by co-owner Fatima Pozo Luzuriaga.

Luzuriaga went on to explain that although the restaurant closed temporarily earlier in the year, they had been trying to “hold off on reopening” in hopes that things would get better.

“We have reached our limit and can no longer sustain the expenses,” read the post.

Craft Cuisine joins a growing list of businesses that have been forced to temporarily or permanently shutter their doors as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.

Over the summer, Feta, a downtown Mediterranean restaurant that had occupied its location for a decade, was forced to close its doors.

Throughout the year, multiple businesses along State Road 200 closed their doors, including Ruby Tuesday’s, Cody’s Original Roadhouse, Pier One Imports, Golden Corral, and Krystal’s, which closed its doors just before the pandemic in December, 2019.

Regal Hollywood and IMAX closed the doors on its only Ocala location multiple times before the company issued nationwide closures.

EarthFare closed its doors in February before the company was acquired and reopened in September.