Popular restaurant abruptly closes, shocking staff and customers

CRANBERRY, Pa. — A restaurant within a popular Cranberry Township shopping plaza abruptly shut its doors this week.

The Houlihan’s, located within the Streets of Cranberry off of Route 19, closed permanently for business on Monday, shocking both customers and employees.

One staff member told Channel 11 that workers received no notice of the shutdown, and arrived for their shifts, only to see the sign being torn off of the building. That worker stated that shift schedules had been out through late September. Now, they’re scrambling to find new employment.

A statement from Bill Leibengood, COO of Houlihan’s Restaurant Group, reads: “Due to a natural lease expiration, Houlihan’s Cranberry Township restaurant closed on August 28.  We value our employees and their dedication to the company and are working to relocate them to our nearby sister properties.  We thank the community for the many years of support.”

Community members are indeed saddened by the news.

Customer Peggy Roccia read a rumor about the shutdown on Facebook, and came to scope out the situation for herself on Wednesday.

“My son and I and my husband, we come every Thursday for lunch,” she said. “It’s a special time for me... I’m bummed. I don’t know where else we’re gonna go!”

Peggy lives north of the shopping plaza, and hopes to see a new tenant fill the space soon.

“I hope they’ll fill it soon because it’s convenient,” she said. “There are a lot of places in Cranberry, but they’re mostly over on 228, so this is convenient here... you don’t have to hit all of the 228 traffic and 79 traffic, it’s a great place and we always enjoyed it.”

Channel 11 has attempted to reach a spokesperson for the shopping plaza’s management group. At the time this article was published, we had not received a response.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2023 Cox Media Group