Autostrada Osteria to close Main Street location after eight years
It’s been a tough couple of years for the restaurant industry, and now another spot is joining the long list of closing eateries.
In an email, Autostrada Osteria broke the news that it will be closing the doors of its Main Street location before the end of the year.
“It hasn’t been an easy decision to close this location and while we do so with heavy hearts, we want to wholeheartedly thank each and every guest that’s walked through our doors,” the restaurant shared in the email.
Autostrada Osteria
Dished reached out to Dustin Dockendorf, who co-owns Autostrada alongside Lucais Syme, to learn more about the closure and the restaurant’s future.
“The amount of positive and heartfelt messages I’ve received since the announcement is amazing,” said Dockendorf. “I think that the restaurant really did connect with a lot of people and it’s hard to see it go.”
So why the closure? Dockendorf shared that they’ve sold the space, which, from their perspective, is a good thing.
“We’ve met some great people that are going to take over the space and do a new concept there,” said Dockendorf. He also added that the restaurant needed some renovations and that they would rather use their resources to focus on Autostrada’s Vancouver House location instead.
“We’re excited to make Autostrada Vancouver House amazing. We think it’s good, but we want to take it to the next level,” said Dockendorf.
Additionally, Dockendorf shared that smaller spaces, like its Main Street spot, are better suited for hands-on owner-operators. For context, Autostrada Main Street seats 24 people, while its Vancouver House spot seats 75.
“The one thing we’ve seen is, we have the same dishwasher in our 75-seat restaurant and our 24-seat restaurant, and when it breaks down, it really affects the 24-seat restaurant, where the 75-seat restaurant can handle that better. The same goes for any piece of equipment we have,” said Dockendorf. “A 24-seat restaurant for an owner-operator is great; for Lucas and I, it was taking us away from our priority, which is the Vancouver House.”
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However, Dockendorf did tease that something new is coming from the Autostrada team in the future. “It’s not huge, but it’s bigger than anything we’ve done, and it will most likely be under a new concept name.”
“We really want to focus on Autostrada being our most premium concept and then having some different concepts as well. ”
Autostrada Main Street will officially close its doors on December 14, 2024.
At the start of this year, Autostrada Osteria also closed its downtown location at 350 W Pender Street. The restaurant shared that it was due to the financial reality of owning a restaurant in the area.
Will you miss this Italian eatery? Let us know in the comments
Autostrada Osteria Main Street
Address: 4811 Main Street, Vancouver
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