The Denny’s at 76 East Goodfellow Street in Ontario is temporarily closed due to COVID-19. (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
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ONTARIO – The Denny’s restaurant in Ontario closed Monday and laid off 32 employees in response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
The restaurant, at 76 E. Goodfellow St., laid off servers, hosts, a service assistant, bartender, cooks and an hourly supervisor.
“It was because of the virus,” said Amerah Sherrill, director of human resources for SAS Restaurant Ventures, Inc.
“The situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic is too uncertain to forsee what may happen,” SAS Restaurant Ventures president Sandeep Shah said in notifying state officials of the layoffs.
SAS Restaurant Ventures operates Denny’s restaurants in Idaho, Utah, Oregon and California. All the restaurants, said Sherrill, are either closed or soon will be. The closures will impact 38 restaurants and more than 1,000 employees across the four states, said Sherrill.
SAS Restaurant Ventures is headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Orders by state governors for residents to stay at home hurt the restaurant, said Sherrill.
“There was an insane decrease in guest traffic,” said Sherrill.
Sherrill said she didn’t. know when the restaurants would open.
“We will play it day by day,” said Sherrill. “It is just kind of up in the air.”
John Breidenbach, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Area Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday he was not aware the local eatery was closed.
“Hopefully those employees will find other jobs locally,” said Breidenbach.
Breidenbach said as far as he knows, no other local businesses have closed because of the COVID-19 virus.
The Denny’s at 76 East Goodfellow Street in Ontario is temporarily closed due to COVID-19. (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)