The Scotch and Vine Restaurant – which just last weekend celebrated its 6th anniversary with a big ribbon cutting – was closed suddenly and unexpectedly on Wednesday, June 14. We first heard a rumor that here was a rather unusual “Sorry we are closed” sign on the front door before confirming the news with owner Jill Pritchard on Facebook. [caption id="attachment_62001" align="alignright" width="248"] Des Moines City Councilmembers helped cut a ribbon to celebrate the restaurant’s 6th anniversary on Saturday, June 10.[/caption] “Unfortunately it is true,” Jill told The Waterland Blog. The popular restaurant, located at 22341 Marine View Drive South, served up “New American” food, along with a nice bar with fine wines, beer and liquor, and of course, Scotch. Owners closed a second version of their restaurant at the Riverbend in Kent in April. According to officials from the City of Kent, they owed $30,588 in unpaid back rent since opening that restaurant in August, 2016. Calls to the restaurant were not answered, its website is blank, and the Facebook page appears to have been deleted. And in addition to the hand-written sign on the front door, all the windows have been covered with visibility-reducing adhesive film. Pitchard did not answer our further inquiries about reasons for the sudden closure. As we learn more information about this restaurant’s future (or sad demise), we’ll update the blog…]]>

33 replies on “Scotch and Vine closes, just days after celebrating 6-year anniversary”

  1. Your article says they owed $30,000 plus dollars in rent and you were trying to reach them for comment as to why they closed suddenly.
    I don’t this mystery takes a detective with the pencil thin mustache to figure out.

    1. @Mark – the unpaid rent was about their other location in Kent, not this one in Burien. One can assume, however, if the one location had money issues that this was probably a similar fate.

      1. Maybe save your comments about mis-managing money until you know the facts. I was told that the city of Kent was supposed to pay the rent on the Riverbend location for a year to help get business going. They did not hold up that end of the agreement so they had to close and now they are trying to charge for back rent. Sounds to me like the city of Kent and their lies cost me one of my favorite restaurants!

  2. Your article says they owed $30,000 plus dollars in rent and you were trying to reach them for comment as to why they closed suddenly.
    I don’t this mystery takes a detective with the pencil thin mustache to figure out.

    1. @Mark – the unpaid rent was about their other location in Kent, not this one in Burien. One can assume, however, if the one location had money issues that this was probably a similar fate.

      1. Maybe save your comments about mis-managing money until you know the facts. I was told that the city of Kent was supposed to pay the rent on the Riverbend location for a year to help get business going. They did not hold up that end of the agreement so they had to close and now they are trying to charge for back rent. Sounds to me like the city of Kent and their lies cost me one of my favorite restaurants!

        1. The City of Kent charges a minimum of $5000 a month for rent for that spot. That is ridiculously high for a space that, for the most part, sits empty 6-7 months out of the year. At some point you would think that the idiots who run Kent would figure out why every restaurant that has been in there fails. Better to have a thriving business paying them a reasonable rent all of the time then to have no one in there at all. But Scotch and Vine needs to assume a lot of blame for this as well. No one should sign a lease like that. Bottom line is Des Moines has lost a great restaurant… which is really sad.

  3. So sad. Very nice people. That Kent Golf Course is always a death trap for restaurants. Stupid silly rent. The community should support local business more than I have seen so far however. Hopefully somebody will take over the space.

  4. So sad. Very nice people. That Kent Golf Course is always a death trap for restaurants. Stupid silly rent. The community should support local business more than I have seen so far however. Hopefully somebody will take over the space.

  5. Makes me think that there was poor management involved. Maybe spending beyond their means? I read where the city of Kent gave them two months free rent at first to get on their feet. Can’t blame Kent for not trying to help businesses. Strange thing is, the Des Moines City Council just days ago, had a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate their 6 years in business in Des Moines…Rr

    1. RedondoRick… You always seem to find a way to tie any failure to the DM city council. Move on, we understand you don’t like them, but they are not the cause for every DM issue.

      1. To That Guy Says, Not sure what I said too blame the city council for Scotch & Vine closing. I just stated that it was weird that S&V just had their 6 year anniversary, and days later without notice they close their doors…Who should move on?

        1. Rick, it’s not just this comment, it’s every comment you make in the various DM Facebook groups, every comment you make on this blog, every comment on Next Door, every comment you make at council meetings. We get it, you don’t like them. But you seem to assign blame for everything to the Des Moines City Council. The dead horse has been beaten to a pulp.

  6. Makes me think that there was poor management involved. Maybe spending beyond their means? I read where the city of Kent gave them two months free rent at first to get on their feet. Can’t blame Kent for not trying to help businesses. Strange thing is, the Des Moines City Council just days ago, had a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate their 6 years in business in Des Moines…Rr

    1. RedondoRick… You always seem to find a way to tie any failure to the DM city council. Move on, we understand you don’t like them, but they are not the cause for every DM issue.

      1. To That Guy Says, Not sure what I said too blame the city council for Scotch & Vine closing. I just stated that it was weird that S&V just had their 6 year anniversary, and days later without notice they close their doors…Who should move on?

        1. Rick, it’s not just this comment, it’s every comment you make in the various DM Facebook groups, every comment you make on this blog, every comment on Next Door, every comment you make at council meetings. We get it, you don’t like them. But you seem to assign blame for everything to the Des Moines City Council. The dead horse has been beaten to a pulp.

  7. Would have been nice if they had given the employees more than a day notice before closing. Not getting paid for our last 2 weeks working there (Kent) was not so awesome either. Not that I don’t feel bad for the owners.

    1. If you’re serious about being an employee, that’s wage theft and is something you can sue for. You are legally required to receive compensation for work completed.

  8. Would have been nice if they had given the employees more than a day notice before closing. Not getting paid for our last 2 weeks working there (Kent) was not so awesome either. Not that I don’t feel bad for the owners.

    1. If you’re serious about being an employee, that’s wage theft and is something you can sue for. You are legally required to receive compensation for work completed.

  9. This is very sad news for the community. I will miss the great food, service and atmosphere. I hope people understand how hard it is to keep a restaurant open let alone two. The weather seemed to play a factor in the Kent location, opening up later in the golf season probably hurt them as well. The Des Moines location was a great place to eat, listen to live music and brought the community together with local events. I can only hope the staff and owners know that their hard work and dedication didn’t go unnoticed.

  10. This is very sad news for the community. I will miss the great food, service and atmosphere. I hope people understand how hard it is to keep a restaurant open let alone two. The weather seemed to play a factor in the Kent location, opening up later in the golf season probably hurt them as well. The Des Moines location was a great place to eat, listen to live music and brought the community together with local events. I can only hope the staff and owners know that their hard work and dedication didn’t go unnoticed.

  11. This is very sad. Especially since we bought a few gift cards for family and friends recently and they did not get the chance to use them. Who would I talk to about getting them refunded???

  12. This is very sad. Especially since we bought a few gift cards for family and friends recently and they did not get the chance to use them. Who would I talk to about getting them refunded???

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