By Elena Kadvany
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I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in journalism. Though my first love is journalism, food is a close second. I am constantly on the lookout for new restaurants to try, building an ever-expanding "to eat" list. As a journalist, I'm always trolling news sources and social media websites with an eye for local food news, from restaurant openings and closings to emerging food trends. When I was a teenager growing up in Menlo Park, I always drove up to the city on weekends with the singular purpose of finding a better meal than I could at home. But in the past year or so, the Peninsula's food culture has been totally transformed, with many new restaurants opening and a continuous stream of San Francisco restaurants coming south to open Peninsula outposts. Don't navigate this food boom hungry and alone! Feed me your tips on new chefs and eats and together we'll share them with the broader community.
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Citing revenue that has been "decimated" by the coronavirus and shelter-in-place mandates, Bay Area-born chain Specialty's Cafe & Bakery announced that the company
will be shutting down all of its locations permanently.
Specialty's Café & Bakery, which is headquartered in Pleasanton, is closing all locations effective Tuesday, May 19. Photo by Ryan J. Degan/Pleasanton Weekly.
"Specialty's Café & Bakery is closing after 33 years of business," reads a message posted to the company website. "Current market conditions attributed to COVID-19 and shelter-in-place policies have decimated company revenues."
The company, which was founded in 1987, operates more than 50 cafes in California, Washington and Illinois, including locally in Palo Alto, Redwood City, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and San Mateo.
Specialty's served sandwiches, salads and other casual fare at its locations and through business catering, a segment of business that has fallen off for all local restaurants. The company had kept locations open for takeout and delivering donated meals to local hospitals, according to social media posts.
The cafes' final day of operations will be Tuesday, May 19. The company's customer service team will reach out to cancel and refund any orders placed for May 20 and beyond, according to the statement posted online.
"We sincerely thank you for your business and support over the years," the company said.
