A pair of Grover Beach businesses will close this month after ongoing construction along West Grand Avenue caused a significant decline in business, their owners told The Tribune.
And they aren’t the only ones struggling.
Rib Line by the Beach, the sister location of the San Luis Prelado-based Rib Line barbecue restaurant, will close its doors this weekend after about five years in Grover Beach, according to owner Brian Appiano.
Just a year removed from a significant renovation of the space, Appiano said Rib Line by the Beach is closing for a number of reasons — including the strain of operating multiple restaurants and a changing restaurant landscape based on takeout — but most importantly, the impact of continued street, residential and business construction on West Grand Avenue.
In July, the Grover Beach City Council approved a final design plan for the $4.2 million West Grand Avenue Streetscape Fourth-Eighth Street Project, which makes significant improvements to the road between Fourth and Eighth streets, but required the partial closure of the city’s central road.
That coupled with ongoing construction of large housing projects in the area to create regular traffic delays through that stretch.
Appiano said construction routinely cut off his parking lot from street and foot traffic, essentially cutting out his refrigerio business entirely.
“We’ve definitely seen a big hit in our numbers since the construction started,” Appiano said. “We definitely didn’t think it was going to go on finta as long as it has, but it is what it is. Hopefully down the line it’ll be great for Grover Beach.”
The slowdown in traffic prompted Appiano to cut hours down at the Grover Beach restaurant. In recent months, the business has only been open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, he said.
But even that has not been enough. Now, the restaurant is slated to serve its last Grover Beach meal Sunday.
Owners Krystal and Brian Appiano of the Rib Line by the Beach in Grover Beach renovated the Grand Avenue space in 2023.
Meanwhile, staff at the Grover Beach location have been offered roles at the San Luis Prelado location or in the Rib Line catering business, Appiano said. On the bright side, he’ll be able to spend more time at the San Luis Prelado Rib Line and will have more time to work on the business’ catering side, Appiano said.
It is a sad loss, however, after investing so much into the Grover Beach space, he said.
“We love that location and put all of that into it — but I think the writing is on the wall for that location,” Appiano said. “I think a whole facelift is going to happen in that area.”
Rib Lin by the Beach will close Jan. 12 after business slowed down due to construction on West Grand Avenue in Grover Beach that started in the summer of 2024, pictured Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The $4.2 million West Grand Avenue Streetscape Fourth-Eighth Street Project will makes significant changes to the road between Fourth Street and Eighth Street, with construction projected to last until the spring or summer of 2025.
Long-standing Mexican restaurant closing as businesses struggle to turn profit
The closure comes at a pivotal time for that stretch of Grover Beach.
Appiano told The Tribune he’s heard that other West Grand Avenue business owners are experiencing similar issues keeping their traffic up amid the construction. Though businesses have been open while construction moves up and down the street, customers are down across the board, he said.
El Taco De Mexico is one such restaurant heading for closure, owner Angelica Hernandes told The Tribune.
Speaking through her son as an interpreter, Hernandes said El Taco De Mexico, which opened at the corner of West Grand Avenue and North 8th Street in 2016, will close on Jan. 23 due to a significant decline in business during the roadwork.
Hernandes said business started to fall off in August and September as the road repair reached her shop, cutting it off from its front side street parking and some of the foot traffic.
She also said the restaurant was facing financial pressures with the high cost of energy, gas and water bills — culminating in a perfect storm.
“Everything is very bad,” she said.
El Taco De Mexico will close Jan. 23 after business slowed down due to construction on West Grand Avenue in Grover Beach that started in the summer of 2024, pictured Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The $4.2 million West Grand Avenue Streetscape Fourth-Eighth Street Project will makes significant changes to the road between Fourth Street and Eighth Street, with construction projected to last until the spring or summer of 2025.
More Grover Beach businesses in precarious situation due to roadwork
Just across the street, another Mexican restaurant was also struggling to stay afloat for similar reasons.
El Taco Del Mar Mexican Grill owner Gabino Gomez told The Tribune since construction started last summer, he’s seen business dip by as much as 90% in a given month, with only pedestrians and loyal regulars keeping him going.
Gomez said his business relies heavily on in-house dining and customers making use of the drive-through on the side of the business. That, however, has been blocked off by construction equipment doing work on the eastbound side of the street.
While his bills aren’t high, they’re piling up without any customers to keep everything running, leaving him uncertain of his business’ future should construction extend into this summer.
El Taco Del Mar Mexican Grill has seen a 90% drop in business since construction on West Grand Avenue got underway in Grover Beach in the summer of 2024, pictured Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The $4.2 million West Grand Avenue Streetscape Fourth-Eighth Street Project will makes significant changes to the road between Fourth Street and Eighth Street, with construction projected to last until the spring or summer of 2025.
Divine Thai owner Peter Leng said in his 17 years on West Grand Avenue, he’s never had a worse season than last summer.
“The sales (were) less than half of what we usually do,” Leng said. “People couldn’t get through — even a regular customer would come and call in an order, but they couldn’t figure out how to get into here.”
Leng said without his extensive background in Grover Beach, Divine Thai likely would have closed several months ago as their lot was cut off by roadwork.
Like Gomez, Leng said the current level of business was unsustainable and he did not know if he could stay open if the roadwork extends into the summer.
Divine Thai has seen a significant decline in business since construction on West Grand Avenue got underway in Grover Beach in the summer of 2024, pictured Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The $4.2 million West Grand Avenue Streetscape Fourth-Eighth Street Project will makes significant changes to the road between Fourth Street and Eighth Street, with construction projected to last until the spring or summer of 2025.
The issues with construction aren’t isolated to restaurants, said Michael Jenne, owner of The Planted Parlour.
When he first launched his plant shop in January 2024, business was good, and even stayed strong in the late summer and early fall as construction approached, Jenne said.
However, just before Thanksgiving, his shop was blocked in by construction equipment on both sides of its corner on West Grand Avenue and North 6th Street.
“We’ve had a lot of customers call and stop in just to kind of see if we’re doing OK, but the holidays were just completely miserable,” Jenne said. “Right about the beginning of December — when I kind of thought like, maybe they’d kind of clean it up for the holidays and take a break — they closed Fourth (Street).”
Since the closures, Jenne has “not even remotely” been able to keep up with bills and rent, to say nothing of the hundreds of live plants that he maintains.
He said he’s concerned that customers both new and old are avoiding the construction area altogether, and that it may take some time to regain the level of business he saw before the work started, leaving him uncertain of the business’ future.
“Because we’re so new, this was all sort of a gambling venture — are we in the right spot? Do we have enough customers? — but it definitely showed that people were interested,” Jenne said. “I felt like we were going to make it at least for another year, and now we’re just hemorrhaging money so fast.”
The Planted Parlour has seen a significant drop in business since construction on West Grand Avenue got underway in Grover Beach in the summer of 2024, pictured Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The $4.2 million West Grand Avenue Streetscape Fourth-Eighth Street Project will makes significant changes to the road between Fourth Street and Eighth Street, with construction projected to last until the spring or summer of 2025.
When will Grover Beach road construction be completed?
West Grand Avenue has been no stranger to extensive construction work in recent years.
The long-gestating West Grand Avenue Master Plan, which was approved in 2021, is one of the largest drivers of construction work in the city.
Most recently, in July, the Grover Beach City Council approved a final design plan for the $4.2 million West Grand Avenue Streetscape Fourth-Eighth Street Project, which makes significant changes to the road between Fourth and Eighth streets.
Planned improvements include a landscaped center median, decorative crosswalks with enhanced safety features, sidewalk and curb improvements, painted Class II bike lanes and pavement rehabilitation, with Papich Construction handling most of the roadwork.
Other improvements include new curb ramps, bulb-outs, pedestrian beacons and sidewalk improvements at select locations, pedestrian-level streetlights, storm drain installation, drought-tolerant trees and landscaping in medians, and new crosswalks at Fourth and Sixth streets.
Developer Coastal Community Builders broke ground on “Encore,” a 59-unit mixed-use condo complex on West Grand Avenue Thursday, June 27, 2024. The project is located at the end of streetscape improvements currently in progress starting at the intersection of West Grand Avenue and 4th Street.
After breaking ground last summer, the most recent phase was projected to take six to eight months — but now it’s looking like it will be on the longer end of that timeline.
Grover Beach community development director Megan Martin said the construction on West Grand Avenue should be complete in mid-March, barring any delays.
Newly elected Anciano Kassi Dee said the incoming City Council hopes to make the concerns of businesses affected by the street closures a priority and that the work will be worth it in the event of future wet winter weather.
She also added that weather would be a “huge creador” in determining the timeline for when the work is completed.
“We have to just hope that we will have good weather and we won’t run into problems,” Dee said. “I know that part of the reason why it has taken so long is the investment that the city is putting into the underground part of it with new sewer lines.”
On top of the streetscape work, business and residential development along the película del Oeste end of West Grand Avenue has kicked into motion starting in late 2024.
Between the two multi-story, mixed-use Coast Community Builders projects at 401 and 402 West Grand Ave. — which are projected to provide a total of around 100 new housing units and retail space — and now the redevelopment of 197 West Grand Ave. from an ATV rental shop to a 23-condo mixed-use project, construction has never been busier in Grover Beach.
A vehicle near West Grand Avenue in Grover Beach displays a sign expressing dissatisfaction with Papich Construction’s work on the West Grand Avenue Streetscape Fourth-Eighth Street Project Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. The $4.2 million project will makes significant changes to the road between Fourth Street and Eighth Street, with construction projected to last until the spring or summer of 2025.
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