Woodmont Grill owners explain abrupt closure after 30 years

What they're saying: The owners, Hillstone Restaurant Group, tell Axios that dwindling parking and staffing challenges led to the decision.

• "We continually deliberate on where best to place our focus and resources. For Woodmont Grill, some of the considerations have been a diminishment of parking over time and the challenge to keep the restaurant adequately staffed to our service standards. While Woodmont Grill has represented us well with a beautiful building and many valued guests over time, we feel it is best to focus our efforts on our other restaurants."

Zoom out: Hillstone opened the high-end grill in 1992 as Houston's. It operates over 35 upscale American restaurants from New York to Santa Monica, a rare chain lauded by celebs and food media (cue Bon Appetit: "Welcome to Hillstone, America's favorite restaurant).

The intrigue: Everyone's buzzing about the closure — but this isn't the first time Hillstone shuttered a restaurant with little more than a note on the door.

• The group abruptly closed Hillstone in Midtown Manhattan in 2023, prompting an outcry from staff who said they were given little or no notice.