I was perusing the website for Dakota Steakhouse and couldn’t find the listing for the Latham location. Google to the rescue.

Yesterdays’ Business Review ran a story about Monday night’s abrupt closure of the 16-year old Latham restaurant, part of a bankruptcy reorganization by the restaurant’s San Diego-based parent company, DWH1 LLC.  The company’s Pittsfield, Rutland, and Manchester locations are still open (the Vermont locations operate under the Sirloin Saloon name). Steve Barnes over at Tablehopping shares the insensitive manner in which local staff and management were notified of the closure (there’s also a lot of discussion over there about the closure, including blaming President Obama and a generous job offer to former Dakota staff from Dominick Purnomo, of Yono’s and dp Brasserie).

I should say I’m not at all surprised at the closure.

I know it’s easy to be a prognosticator after the fact, but the last time I ate there I recall saying that the restaurant was not long for this world. The food was mediocre (at best), the salad bar was horrible, the portions were smaller, and the service was spotty. It was half-empty at 7:00pm on a Saturday. The kiss of death.

It used to be a decent place – consistent food, good service, decent prices. Too bad.

But now I don’t know where to go to dinner tonight.