On April 1, 2018, Zoe Cafe unexpectedly taped a sign to the front door announcing that it was closed and a Harvest Pizzeria would be taking its place in the near future.
At first, it seemed like an odd April Fool’s joke, since the sign was posted on the day that it was and there was never a formal announcement, but soon it became apparent that it was all very real.
“The owner did not really say why [it closed],” Lila Pettibone, Capital student and manager at Zoe for three years, said. “Nobody knew that we were closing except the owner.”
Pettibone said that the staff did not know about the close until the last day that they were open.
“All the owner had to say is that there is never really an easy way to tell employees when closing down a restaurant. It was indeed very unexpected,” she said.
Pettibone also said that the owner, Anastasia Rigsby, will still be running Tasi Cafe in the Short North with a similar breakfast menu to Zoe’s, so fans of the food can still go there.
The Harvest Pizzeria will be open in the Bexley location in the upcoming months.
For Capital students, the closing of Zoe means one less place for them to use their CapBucks, and it is still unclear whether or not they will be accepted at Harvest Pizzeria upon opening.
“No one from the restaurant informed us about the closing, even though it is evident now (from news articles) that this has been in process for some time,” Bill Mea, vice president for business and finance, said.
“We have not yet had any contact with the owner of Harvest Pizzeria to determine whether they will want to participate in the CapBucks program,” he said. “We will investigate that in the near future.”
