Popular Restaurant Closes Suddenly

Chuy’s Mesquite Broiler in Camarillo apparently has shut down after 20 years in business, according to the Ventura County Star and business review site Yelp Inc. The Star first reported that the popular Tex-Mex restaurant, long a fixture in the Carmen Plaza shopping center at 311 Carmen Drive, has covered its doors with brown paper and rolled down the shades of its dining room windows. The restaurant most likely closed on or just before Monday, according to a scheduled performer who spoke with the newspaper. The apparent closing came suddenly. The restaurant’s website was still operating early Wednesday afternoon. Its Facebook page touted a daily special on Sunday. Calls to the location by the Business Journal were not answered; a manager at sister restaurant Chuy’s Simi Valley East was not available to comment. A message to Brian Duimovich, an executive at Chuy’s parent company Duimo Corp., was not returned by press time. A representative of Brixmor Property Group Inc., which owns the Carmen Plaza, called Chuy’s closure “unexpected.” “We didn’t receive any information from the retailer,” said Kristen Moore, Brixmor spokeswoman. “At this point we’ll move forward.”