Popular Voltaire Eatery Had Faced Stiff Rent Increase
A popular restaurant on the 4900 block of Voltaire Street in Ocean Beach, O’Bistro’s, has closed and is moving – probably over to the bay side of the Peninsula.
It was quite a shock when I heard about it. Their Euro-beach cuisine was a favorite of good friends and north OB will certainly lose one of its more high-end eateries. Their last day was July 4th, according to a posted sign on the window.
I caught John – one of the owners – on a lunch break while packing up in the interior of the now-closed establishment at 4934 Voltaire. Chairs stood on tables, boxes were taking over the floors, and the moving truck stood close by. After expressing my condolences, he reassured me they will be opening up again probably close to Rosecrans, over the hill from OB.
The rumor that O’Bistro had been hit with a rent increase was true, it turned out. John explained the background.
They had a 10-year lease with the former property owner, who had sold and moved on, with the Shamoun family purchasing the entire lot. They also own the OB Kwit store down the block.
When the lease was up, the Shamouns offered a fairly stiff rent increase. John and his wife didn’t want to pay it and decided to find another place.
John told me that he hoped people would keep track of them and where they re-open on their facebook page. It does have quite a following, so fans may very well track the new place down. They’ll have to keep their OBesque name, of course, despite being closer to the bay than the ocean.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Let’s make it clear that “Shamoun” is aka Bobby and his brothers who own OB Quik on Voltaire as well as a few other poorly-run liquor stores in OB. Doesn’t live here and doesn’t hire locals. The exemplification of greed at the expense of the community
Sad :-(. And my friend’s husband is out of a job now.
Half wonder if this is ye olde land lord trick of raise the rent to get rid of the current tenant with another tenant in mind…
? Amazing comments~~ I have know this family for along time and every time I need a donation for a community event or project they are willing to give>> Make sure you have your facts straight, I know they have hired people who live in our community~~
Also people looking for jobs, I have heard local restaurants are hiring, I meet someone 4 weeks ago, he was looking for a job, I sent him to BBQ House & he was hired>>Also I heard from another friend about a job at Subway on Cable, my friend went in& was hired!! Kife is Good in the OB Hood!!
Kinda defies Bobby’s message of gratitude displayed in the window, crediting their success to customer loyalty.
Greed is a selfish act by a minority so driven by power and money, they disregard its impact – in this case the OB community and owners of O’Bistro owners. Nice people, incredibly attentive to customers, with a 10 year established presence that earned a loyal following.
Bye Bye, Quik Stop, rarely went there, your people’s priorities are cell phone chatter and bullshitting, rather than serving me.
It is so sad that a successful restaurant with a loyal following for so many years was essentially forced to vacate. In true OB spirit O’ Bistro fans can contemplate a protest/boycott of whatever moves in there.
Love OB Quick and Bobby – he and his entire family work in the shop and make the BEST sandwiches – for all of you who say otherwise, good, don’t frequent their awesome shop – we only want positive vibes there!