Popular Merrion Row restaurant Hugo’s is to remain closed after they close their doors on Christmas Eve.
Due to the new Covid-19 restrictions resulting in restaurants and pubs having to close at 8pm, owner Gina Murphy has decided to not open again until February.
Tweeting her decision, Ms Murphy said she was “devastated” to have to shut the Dublin restaurant's doors.
“Devastated to have made the very difficult decision to close our beloved Hugo’s after lunch on Christmas Eve until February, or when restrictions are lifted, and we can trade properly.
“The entire broken-hearted Hugo’s family want to thank you for your overwhelming support.”
She added: “We are very much a family here, so many tears the last two days. No matter how I tried to work it, we just weren’t viable. We’ve had over 4,500 cancellations in the last five weeks.
“No lunch trade due to [people] working from home. Had to pull the handbrake before we crashed.”
💔💔Devastated to have made the very difficult decision to close our beloved Hugo’s after lunch on Xmas Eve until February, OR when restrictions are lifted & we can trade properly. The entire broken-hearted Hugo’s family want to thank you for your overwhelming support xx#Hugos❤️ pic.twitter.com/6iPrekRSMm
— Hugo's Restaurant 🇺🇦 (@hugosrest) December 18, 2021
The public took to Twitter to respond with one person commenting: “Gina and your team, I am just so sad to learn that you are closing temporarily as a result of the recent restrictions.
“I fully appreciate the mental torture to make your decision. So hard to keep going back to the same well. Can’t wait to see you back open soon”.
It is the second successive Christmas that the sector has faced restrictions at what is traditionally its busiest time of the year.
