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A POPULAR comfort food restaurant has confirmed its closure in a Southern state but has yet to share the reason.
An employee of the location said they had only found out about the shuttering a week prior.
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Rusty Bucket, which began in Columbus, Ohio, plans to close its Sarasota, Florida location — about 61 miles south of Tampa — this month, per the Herald-Tribune.
The Sarasota location was the only one in Florida.
After persistent efforts to contact the business, the outlet spoke to a bartender who confirmed the news.
“We are closing on August 18 permanently,” Skyler Wolf told the outlet on August 6.
“We just found out around a week ago.”
The U.S. Sun has contacted the Rusty Bucket for comment.
‘SHARE LAUGHTER’
The restaurant started in 2002 and grew to 20 locations in five states, per its website.
Rusty Bucket brands itself as a “casual American restaurant and tavern where people come to share laughter, smiles, and great conversation over food that makes everyone happy,” according to its website.
Gary Callicoat, the founder, is known to take the food his restaurant produces very seriously.
“We make our menu from scratch because food just tastes better that way,” Callicoat explained, per the website.
“Cooking is like a dark alley. Bad things happen when you take shortcuts.”
MORE CLOSURES
This isn’t the only restaurant closure Florida has seen this year.
In July, the Chicken Salad Chick location in Baymeadows, a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida, closed after nine years.
The restaurant, located at the Reedy Branch Commons Shopping Center, was one of over 260 operated by the chain across 19 states.
Rusty Bucket history and facts
The Rusty Bucket opened its first location in Dublin, OH — a suburb of Columbus — in 2002.
The “casual American restaurant and tavern” has since grown to 20 locations.
Its founder, Gary Callicoat, opened the first location with the help of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants where he began his first restaurant job as a dishwasher at 15.
Mitchell’s helped Callicoat open its first location in 2002 and it has since expanded to 20 locations in five states. However, the Sarasota, Florida location has confirmed its closure this August.
The restaurant offers American classics and a wide selection of beer.
“The Bucket is a place built on friendship, where people can meet up, grab a bite and a drink, and share stories. Everybody’s welcome here, and some even say we are a grown-up place to bring the kids,” Callicoat said.
According to Rusty Bucket
Customers were told about the abrupt closure by a sign taped to the door.
“We look forward to opening new Chicken Salad Chick locations in the Jacksonville market to best serve our guests,” the sign read.
However, it did not share the reason for the sudden closure, but instead, customers were directed to the nearest location six miles away.
Customers were saddened by the news saying the food “hit the spot.”
“Something I never knew I needed before moving to FL. It hits the spot perfectly for a weekday lunch. So. Damn. Good,” one wrote.
“Bummer! We were just there and it was really good! This is sad,” another added.
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