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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
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Z Spot Cafe & Grill, a lunch spot across from the federal courthouse at Fifth and I streets, has mysteriously closed.
The cafe and its outside courtyard at 500 I St. were empty Tuesday. Tables and chairs were gone, and the floor and counters were dirty and empty. Cash registers and other equipment, along with food, had been cleared out, possibly overnight. A drink dispenser was the only piece of equipment left on the restaurant's front counter.
Confused customers stopped by during the day to try to figure out what had happened. A woman named Lisa who works at the nearby Hall of Justice, 813 Sixth St., said she wasn't able to reach the cafe by phone.
"I called today to order a hamburger to go. The number's been disconnected," she said as she peered inside through locked doors.
Shortly after 1 p.m., a representative of real estate company CB Richard Ellis, which provides property management services, taped notices on the door for the cafe's owners, Jean G. Louis and Tamara or Tami C. Louis, both of Yuba City.
One notice said the owners have three days to pay $16,986 in back rent owed for at least two weeks to landlord Chase Merritt Sacramento LLC, which had a lease with Tawfig Zarif, Ferough Zarif and Roya Aziz. The trio assigned the lease to Jean and Tami Louis. The other notice said the property would be considered abandoned and the lease terminated by the end of the month unless the owners contact management.
Z Spot served sandwiches, salads and breakfast, plus beer and wine. The downtown restaurant had been closed about a year ago, then reopened with new owners, according to a customer.
The corner space has seen some turnover in recent years. Restaurants named Lucy's Place, Pot Belli Grill and Belli Grill operated there before Z Spot.
The owners and Tawfig Zarif could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
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It's unfortunate to see abandoned business, homes, and financial sensibilities here and all over the country. I think people should be held accountable, and all parties in privity of contract should be served and forced to pay. Sadly, I wonder if what's missing is communication with the community. Perhaps if owners of distressed businesses would let the community know in advance that things weren't going well, we could come together to help. Unfortunately for Z Spot, that opportunity appears to have come and gone. I would have thrown my dollar in the pot to help clear their debt alongside thousands of other people.