CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Closed without warning.
BBQ restaurant chain Smokey Bones has shuttered all three of its remaining Western Pennsylvania locations. According to the restaurant’s website, all locations across the country are now closed.
Employees at the Cranberry Township spot tell Channel 11 they were blindsided.
“I kind of wish we’d have gotten a little heads up. It’s kind of out of the blue,” Maleah Leduke said. Her shift was scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
“It’s really upsetting,” she said. “I woke up this morning to the news, drove here and it’s real. There’s a sign on the door. ‘Closed forever.’”
“We were on a field trip today and I got a text in the group chat,” Toni Baker said. She is getting ready to graduate from high school and has worked at Smokey Bones for two years.
“They were like, ‘It’s been nice, but now we’re shut down.’ I thought it was a joke, at first,” she said.
It’s the end of a process that’s been going on for some time. We told you in January that the Robinson location had suddenly closed.
“We kind of knew it would be happening soon and we probably wouldn’t get a warning but I never thought it would be this soon,” Toni said.
We have reached out to parent company “FAT Brands” about the closures. We have not heard back.
A manager cut us off mid-interview with Toni Baker.
“No. Uh uh. No one can talk to the media. Stop. Cut it. Everyone inside,” she said.
Other local restaurants have reached out to employees regarding job opportunities.
It’s unclear what’ll happen to the buildings. Some around the country have been converted to other FAT Brand restaurants.
“It’s more about everyone leaving each other. There’s people who have worked here so long and we all really love each other,” Leduke said.
“I feel really sad for all the people who enjoyed coming here. I know we had a lot of regulars,” Baker said.
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