After 50 years, Black Oak Restaurant in Vacaville to close
(Photo courtesy Google Street View, Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
The Black Oak Restaurant, a popular brunch spot for residents and travelers passing through Vacaville, will permanently shut its doors after 50 years in business.
The announcement was made Saturday in a one-page release on its social media profiles.
“It has been our pleasure serving you and the Vacaville community for over 50 years,” restaurant management said in the statement. “There have been so many wonderful memories and friendships formed at this restaurant that we are so thankful for.”
The Black Oak Restaurant served a limited menu of breakfast and lunch choices every day between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. It was a popular dining destination for long-time residents and travelers who were passing through Vacaville on their way to Sacramento or who stopped to shop at the nearby Vacaville Premium Outlets.
In addition to the restaurant, the business had a charming country store located inside with homely decor and unique gifts, toys and candy.
Like other locally-owned businesses, the Black Oak Restaurant has suffered the economic effects of the ongoing coronavirus health pandemic. At the start of the pandemic, the restaurant decided to sell off its inventory of food as a pop-up grocery store, a model that was replicated at other restaurant businesses throughout the state.
But throughout the pandemic, restaurants have had to juggle ever-changing federal and state health guidelines with respect to how businesses operate. Restaurants were especially challenged as state and local health officials teetered between allowing and banning indoor dining.
Restaurant owners have complained that the state’s ever-shifting health restrictions have forced them to modify their business operations, invest in outdoor dining equipment and lay off workers with no clear timetable on when they would be re-hired again.
Black Oak Management was not exempt from these troubles, though the restaurant’s management didn’t point to these problems in their three-paragraph note to customers on Saturday. Instead, they focused on the positives — the memories that come with serving a community like Vacaville for five decades.
“Words cannot express how much we have appreciated all the support you and our staff have given us,” management said. “We will miss all of you.”
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