The Growlers' Arms Served Its Final Yorkshire Pudding Last Night

It's sad when restaurants close, and even sadder when it's against the owners' wishes, which is the case with Oakland's Growlers' Arms, which shut its doors for the final time last night. The 10-month-old restaurant just wasn't getting enough business, owners Seamus and Shelley Mulhall told Inside Scoop. "We put everything we had into his restaurant; we've been planning it for years," Shelley said. "I think it was a really beautiful place, with really beautiful food, and beautiful staff, and the people who came really loved it. So it's heartbreaking, but we just have to move forward."

Shelley attributed the failure to perhaps not being family-friendly enough. "There are a lot of families with kids here, and maybe it was just a little bit too upscale," she theorized. "It was a very ambitious concept, and I think if we had been in an area with some more foot traffic, like Rockridge or the city, we would have been okay, but it's still a little quiet here in Glenview."

The Growlers' Arms was positioned as a British gastropub serving upscale versions of Brit country classics like Welsh rarebit, pot pies and a Sunday roast. The Mulhalls have worked at Gary Danko and Chez Panisse, which influenced the type of food they served. Going forward, the husband-and-wife team plans to try to sell the restaurant.