"Very proud of what we did": Chorizo & Co. announces closure this spring
Chorizo & Co. announced today that it’s sold the restaurant, and its last service will be on May 18. A new operator local to Vancouver Island will take over.
“We entered [2024] already chasing the eight ball,” owner Stephen Quigley told Daily Hive. “We would have had to increase business by 40% in the next few months to stay afloat — we couldn’t see that happening.”
Many restaurants are feeling the pinch as inflation and higher grocery prices eat into their profits, and diners are often choosing to stay in more often.
Ironically, Quigley said that the months after COVID-19 were great due to a higher demand but also because of federal government wage subsidies. Those have dried up, but profits haven’t increased.
“2023 was even tougher than the COVID era,” he said. “If we had opened between the years of 2012 and 2018, we’d probably have three or four restaurants by now. But I’m very proud of what we did.”
Quigley hoped the new owners would carry on with the Chorizo & Co. name like the restaurant did when it took over from the Chorizo & Co. butcher shop in 2018. According to him, the space will have a new concept, and that announcement will come sometime this spring or early summer.
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Quigley and his business partner, Dave Brooks, were always an interesting pair to run a Spanish tapas restaurant.
Quigley, an Irish expat living on Vancouver Island, and Brooks, from Saskatoon, are both industry veterans. The two met working at Stage in Fernwood, where the duo began dreaming up their own place.
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After long conversations after shifts at Stage in Fernwood, Quigley and Brooks saw an opportunity to live their dream when the Spanish deli on Fort Street shut down in 2018.
The two were drawn to the overhanging mezzanine, views overlooking the restaurant from upstairs, and the windows that gazed over the Fort Commons. Most of all, in honour of the deli, they kept the same name: ChorizoĀ &Ā Co.
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While the restaurant opened in the fall of 2018, it was a struggle leading up to its opening, when in July of that year, when Quigley got the keys, his wife suddenly died.
Quigley met his wife, Carrie Buckler, at a pub in Paris in the early 2000s. In 2005, they married in Tofino, and two years later, they moved into Buckler’s family home in Oak Bay.
Quigley said Buckler, a trained sommelier, had a big influence on the restaurant. In spite of the tragedy, he persevered and opened Chorizo & Co. in 2018 to rave reviews. That same year, the restaurant was listed at the Vancouver Awards for best Victoria restaurant.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the team persevered through another turn of events — one that was particularly difficult for a tapas restaurant relying so heavily on the dining experience. But it persevered, and it rebounded.
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“We created a great atmosphere here,” Quigley said.
“That was always the Spanish connection — the vibrancy of the room. Maybe the food itself didn’t always fit in the Liberian Peninsula, but it was all about the smaller plates and the sardine can effect of squeezing people in to break bread together.”
ChorizoĀ &Ā Co. will be missed for its tapas-style, larger fare, which ranged from mouth-watering peri-peri pork belly to vegan-friendly fried cauliflower. It was perfect for any occasion, with great cocktails and a great wine and craft beer selection.
For fans, ChorizoĀ &Ā Co. will likely stand out as a fixture for fantastic local cuisine and Quigley will likely stand as an inspiring example of perseverance.
While Quigley has no immediate plans, he adds that supporting small local restaurants can be simple. “Visit a small restaurant three or four times a year,” he said. “Those big deep pocket places donāt need your money — mom and pops do!”
And while the Irish are known for their quick exits, Quigley won’t be playing to that stereotype: Check out Chorizo & Co. before May 18.
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