In an email sent to customers this morning, Jeff Jacobs, the owner of Carrol’s Creek Cafe said that the venerable restaurant would be closing for the winter and re-opening in April when the weather (and hopefully COVID) breaks and outdoor dining can be enjoyed on their decks overlooking the Annapolis Harbor.
[bctt tweet=”Our staff, the backbone of our business, would be most affected by our closure. We are doing everything that we can to assist them and we are in the process of planning a benefit for them.” username=”eyeonannapolis”]
In our family we have a couple of relevant sayings, “From your mouth to God’s ear” and “It is what it is.”
2020 started off with the Jacobs Family and Carrol’s Creek Café at the top of the heap. Everyone was healthy; our third generation of family was working at the restaurant and we were set for another successful year in business. We were able to give people good paying jobs (over 3000 people by our 37th year), give back to the community ($35,000 for our 35th anniversary) and win local and national awards for our food and service (top 100 scenic restaurant in US and tops in Maryland) and crab soup, wow, and then came COVID.
For nearly 38 years we have been honored to be part of your family celebrations, the place that you entertain you out of town guests or where you go when you just want to get out for a good meal. Our business model has always relied on our sales volume from late spring through early fall when we can serve on our deck as well as inside. With the support from our guests, landlord, staff and management, we survived this year, however, the current and ever changing guidelines and restrictions continue to hinder our business. All of the experts have also said to stay home and not go out. November through late March has always been financially difficult for our restaurant. If we were to open up in January to March we would have twice the losses as we usually do and we could not survive to open again in Spring. We could complain and cry but “IT IS WHAT IT IS”.
We talked with our accountant, landlord, management and staff. If we were to survive and come back strong in the Spring there was no other choice but to stay closed until April when we could be outside again. This was a very difficult decision knowing that our staff, the backbone of our business, would be most affected by our closure. We are doing everything that we can to assist them and we are in the process of planning a benefit for them. Details will be announced soon. Even with the vaccine, COVID is here and there is nothing we can do but stay strong and safe. Fortunately, we have put money away for such emergencies and we will survive to reopen in the Spring.
This holiday season we have sold many gift cards with an additional bonus card. We would like you to know that if you are uncomfortable with keeping the gift cards until we reopen, a full refund will be issued for any gift card purchase made after November 1, 2020. In addition to this, we will be extending any promotion with an expiration date by adding the amount of time that we are closed to that date. Please call the restaurant and we will be happy to answer any questions or assist with a refund.
The encouraging comments and support from you, our loyal customers overwhelm us. Rest assured, the Jacobs family will not let you down. From your mouth to God’s ear for your kind and encouraging words. Stay strong and healthy. We will keep the crab soup hot and the beer cold for Carrol’s Creek’s reopening.
If you want to hear a little more about Carrol’s Creek, Jeff Jacobs and their commitment to Annapolis, have a listen to this podcast we did a while ago:
