Nob Hill's Ala Romana Appears to Have Shuttered After 18 Months

It appears that the end of the road has arrived for Ala Romana, the sequel to Allegro Romano that opened in Nob Hill a mere 18 months ago. A tipster sent Eater the above photo of the restaurant, which is dark and has an "Available" sign posted prominently in both windows. Two Yelpers have also noticed the shutter, and Yelp has the restaurant listed as "Closed." We've reached out to owner Lorenzo Logoreci, but he has yet to return multiple requests for comment; the restaurant's Facebook and Twitter accounts haven't been updated in ages, but its phone line has yet to be disconnected, so it's possible the concept could be revived elsewhere.

Ala Romana has struggled since making its debut on Nob Hill, losing opening chef David Taylor after nine months. Peruvian native Philippe Routhier joined the restaurant last May, taking the menu into more of an Italian-meets-Latin American direction, but it didn't seem to improve business. Logoreci's poor relationship with the Health Department (he famously slapped a health inspector back in 2013) may have been a factor, though the restaurant's most recent data had it doing relatively OK, with a score of 87 in October 2014.

Another view of the shuttered space: