The owner of downtown Raleigh eateries Linus & Pepper’s and Virgil’s Tacos announced Tuesday that both businesses will close permanently after being dealt “a crushing blow” by the coronavirus pandemic.
Jon Seelbinder, who also owns nightclub The Architect and cocktail bar The Green Light, announced that the twin eateries on Salisbury Street will not be reopening as state restrictions start to lift.
The news comes as other downtown restaurants shutter due to the economic uncertainty created by the pandemic, including Ashley Christensen’s Chuck’s nearby on Wilmington Street.
“This pandemic has dealt a crushing blow to our industry and the world as a whole,” Seelbinder wrote in a post shared to Instagram and Facebook. “We have worked tirelessly through the shut down to come up with solutions for survival plans and ways to safely bring our team back to work. With heavy hearts but clear minds, we’ve made the decision that our best path forward is to close this building and focus on our other locations.”
Linus & Pepper’s began as a pop-up in 2015 and morphed into a downtown lunch staple that sat beneath Seelbinder’s former The Level Up kitchen, which was later replaced by The Merchant.
The eatery’s bright green doorway, which boasted the logo “damn good sammies,” stood out amid a crowded downtown lunch scene. It was known for its unique spins on classic sandwiches like The Italian, a cold cuts sub smothered in a colorful pickled vegetable slaw, and The Frenchy, a cheesy beef melt flavored with horseradish and served with an au jus dip. A few months later, the sandwich shop was joined by Virgil’s Tacos, next door.
The ongoing public health crisis led state officials to ban dine-in service in March, forcing Seelbinder to lay off nearly all of his 200 staffers. He launched a GoFundMe to try and stay afloat, but raised only $1,405.
Letting go of the two Salisbury Street businesses was a heartbreaking decision for Seelbinder, he says. Linus & Pepper’s was named for his niece and a “whimsical cat” named Linus, while Virgil’s got its name from “a mischievous childhood friend,” Seelbinder wrote.
In the future, Seelbinder said he may try and offer takeout from his other businesses, but for now “our other locations will reopen and we will pour our efforts into those for the time being.”
“Serving the Raleigh community over the last five years has truly been an honor, and it is our goal to do it even better going forward,” Seelbinder said.
Contact Raleigh news editor Leigh Tauss at [email protected].
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