In “I’d much rather report on places opening than places closing” news, KVOA’s website has a photo from the front door of Brian Metzger’s northeast side restaurant The Abbey, which says the space has been seized by Ventura-Pacific Development.
UPDATE: I just talked to Brian Metzger, who referred to the situation as resulting from “an accounting and bookkeeping error” that compounded into the situation today, which was a surprise to him and the staff (hence the posts last night about the new menu), saying “I thought we reached an agreement, but I guess something changed.” Metzger said that “it doesn’t do anyone any good what happened today” and that he’s still working to get the restaurant re-opened as soon as possible, even today, if he can help it. “The future of the Abbey is still bright….[Today’s closure is] not good and I’m not happy about it, but hopefully cooler heads will prevail and I intend to make things right.”
This is apparently not a particularly new development, because Abbygrace LLC, Metzger’s company that ran The Abbey, has been in court with Ventura-Pacific quite a bit lately, starting in December of 2013 and seemingly ending with a final summary judgment in favor of Ventura-Pacific on April 4 after no one showed in court on March 14.
Even stranger, Brian Metzger was actively hyping the restaurant on Facebook last night, championing the restaurant’s new menu (which did look quite tasty):
This currently leaves two Tucson restaurants for Metzger, the newish Poppy Kitchen at La Paloma and downtown’s Gio Taco.
This article appears in May 8-14, 2014.
Dan, call my cell. I’d be happy to talk to you about this! I fully expect this to be a black eye, but one that will heal… I’m excited about the future of the abbey, I hope it was evident last night when posting…brian
Mediocre food and completely disinterested service. When I complained to the manager, he said “everybody is entitled to their opinion”. I asked if that’s how he was taught to “turn the situation around”? He made no effort to reply. No Abbey….no loss.
No great loss…Food was over priced and nothing special. They crammed the tables
so close together it felt like you were eating with strangers!
Why does everyone who opens a restaurant in Tucson thinks it has to
have some fancy la di da menu. If you truly want to succeed, keep it simple.
Serve a good burger at a fair price and I guarantee you’ll be around for a long time.
Brian: Wish you luck in straightening this thing out quickly.
Jill: I personally do not want to see 100’s of restaurants with “a good burger at a fair price”, and I welcome a variety of menus, takes on dishes, etc. Call me CRAZY!
Meeting in parking lot 10 minutes ago. Load em up. move em out.
Hang on to Gio Taco! It’s a winner.
We ate at The Abbey once, last summer. Okay food, really lousy service.
Wondering how much we are subsidizing the downtown venture’s rent.
(not that there’s anything wrong with that – in Tucson)
This isn’t a case of a restaurant failing because people weren’t interested. The Abbey was pretty much always full. A lot of us liked the “fancy la di da menu”. Although, to be fair, I was not so much a fan of their burger as I was of pretty much everything else I ever had there. I hope the Wednesday fried chicken special ends up at another of their restaurants.
Can we dine and dash since the owner doesn’t seem to understand the concept of paying your bills???
After eating there last month, we wondered why the parking lot was always full. Ho-Hum food and less than Ho-Hum service should not attract customers – unless they are desperate. And, NO, we do not want another burger and fries place or we could simply go across the street, As for the comments about the “la-di-da” menu – what do they consider la-di-da? It was mostly la-di-doodoo. I look forward to a better place with better food and better service coming to that location. When it does, we’ll be at the door.
When I lived in the foothills, this was one of my favorite restaurants…and one I’ve missed since moving away. Hoping this is just a temporary setback.
Geez. How many hamburger restaurants you guys want? I rather have the Mussels from Abbey.
I honestly cannot think of any restaurant in Tucson where I’ve ever encountered the quality of service that the staff at the Abbey brings to the table.
Was unaware of the various court actions involving Metzger’s restaurants until the past 24 hours. As much as I like to support locally-owned eateries, the fact that a creditor had to resort to this type of action makes me think that patronizing any of his places would be enabling.
Like so many Tucson Restaurants their food is Full on FAT & Calories very little fresh and Plant based!
Tough business. I hope the employees are treated fairly when the creditors come back.
We have always had great food and great service at the Abbey. So many restaurants have closed in this town over the last 2 years. I wish Brian the best. Keep up the great food and service and we will keep coming back.
Brian needs to “retread” a basic Business course! He’s opening and closing restaurants like crazy! Filing bankruptcy, he’s in MAJOR debt, behind in taxes, in and out of court with creditors…..the new Poppy has horrible reviews overall! “Already”!! …..and now The Abbey gets locked up due to non payment of a debt! I think Brian is “shuffling” and doing the ole “borrow from Peter to pay Paul” ….when the dust settles…I think some will be surprised to see what is REALLY going on! ….and I feel eventually, the Tucson community will have to pay the price! I won’t be visiting anymore of the Metzgers establishments! I don’t want to “enable” him further!