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Chinese Szechuan, a restaurant that has been tucked away in Pleasanton’s Hopyard Village for nearly 40 years, confirmed that after several years of struggling to pay rent and trying to sell the business, it will be shutting down later this month.
Owner Huey Wang told the Pleasanton Weekly she got the lease termination notice about a week ago from her landlord and now has until Aug. 21 to vacate the premises, which means their last day of service will likely be in two weeks, she just doesn’t know what day exactly.Â
“We’re going to miss everybody,” Wang said.
According to Goble Properties, which owns the property, Hashtag India — a regional Indian chain restaurant that originated in Texas — will be taking over the space.
And even though Wang said the landlord sprung the news at the very last minute, she still appreciates their flexibility over these past few years, given her husband’s recent health issues.
Now, she only hopes she can work something out with the property ownership regarding the restaurant’s debt it accrued since the COVID pandemic, particularly considering that she wasn’t able to sell the business for any financial gain as she envisioned.
Wang and her family first took over the Chinese Szechuan, which had already been an established restaurant at 3059 Hopyard Road, Suite F, back in the spring of 1987.Â
After more than three decades in operation, things started to take a turn for the worse back in 2020.Â
From shelter-in-place orders mandated by the government to hybrid work taking away potential customers, Wang said her business took a serious hit, which forced her to work out a rent-relief contract with Goble where she would pay less while assuming debt.
Since the pandemic, Wang said they have roughly $400,000 in COVID back-rent and other debt they owe.
Due to that rising debt, Wang said her family’s original plan was to sell the restaurant back in 2024. They found an interested buyer, but the sale contract fell through at escrow after the original buyer had asked for a lower purchase amount.
Left disappointed, Wang said her landlord gave the restaurant these past two years to sell the business and allowed them to pay rent month-to-month.
Wang said that she had recently spoken with the landlord and reconfirmed her intent to vacate the space. She knew that once the landlord found someone, she would have 30 days to leave the premises.
What she did not know is that upon receiving that notice from the landlord saying they found a new tenant and that Chinese Szechuan had until Aug. 21 to leave, she would be left with zero dollars from the transaction.
“If I knew this new lease … would give me zero (dollars), I could’ve sold my restaurant for less money,” Wang said. “At least I could’ve used this money to negotiate with the landlord.”
A representative from Goble Properties told the Weekly that even though its policy does not allow them to “comment publicly on tenant lease matters or the circumstances surrounding individual tenancies”, they are still grateful for the restaurant.
“We appreciate the many years that Chinese Szechuan has been a tenant at Hopyard Village and wish the owners all the best in the future,” the Goble Preoperties representative said.
Wang also clarified she has no negative feelings toward the landlord for finding another tenant. In fact, she said she appreciates how much they have worked with her family over the years.
She also said her husband was recently diagnosed with a neuromuscular disease and recently needed a low-dose session of chemotherapy and still had to return to work shortly after, which made her sad and made her want to close that much more.
Still, she continued to hold out hope that she could find someone to sell the restaurant to, even when the restaurant was losing money.Â
That’s why, even though she said she was OK with the news of the new tenant, she feels anxious about the fact that she is now being asked to vacate in a couple of weeks with hundreds of dollars worth of debt and a sick husband.Â
She is asking the landlord for some grace and is trying to see if the new tenant wants to buy any of her equipment, even if the likelihood of that happening is low.
As Chinese Szechuan’s run comes to an end, Wang recognized the amazing time she and her family had served the Pleasanton community over the past four decades and wanted to make sure that all of their loyal customers know how much the restaurant appreciates their patronage.
She noted how, over the past several days since announcing their upcoming closure, she has seen customers give generous tips after their meals.
“We really appreciate our customers,” Wang said.
She also wanted to make sure that people use up any of their gift certificates before they close their doors for good.
As for their financial situation, Wang said her family will try to figure it out but if they do need any sort of help, she will look into either starting up a GoFundMe page or taking on another job around town. However, she hopes she can work something out with their landlord in the meantime.
But one thing is for sure, she said she will not be looking at opening up another restaurant any time soon.
“It is the right time,” she said regarding the closure.
