Longtime Pacifica institution Vallemar Station Restaurant is facing financial difficulties following the recent storms and pandemic, with owners Hal and Barbara Ash setting up a GoFundMe to ask for community help getting through tough times.
The restaurant has been open for 27 years, but Hal Ash said a confluence of events had caused financial difficulties that threaten the future of Vallemar Station. He noted a loss of business during the pandemic; damages during the recent storms; and several equipment failures of its refrigerators and freezers. In Addition, with the economy in bad shape — with rising prices and inflation — people are less likely to want to go out to eat.
Ash noted being part of the GoFundMe was not something he wanted to do but was worth a shot to survive.
“I don’t know how to explain it other than everybody’s in trouble, which puts us in trouble,” Ash said.
The business was going well before the pandemic, and the restaurant did takeout for a while to stay afloat. However, times remain challenging, and the business never ticked back up following the pandemic and tourism has not picked up to pre-pandemic levels.
Ash has lived in Pacifica since 1960 and has lived with his wife in the city since 1966. He has previously worked at Nick’s Restaurant at Rockaway Beach and the Moonraker.
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Mike Day, the organizer of the GoFundMe, said without some help, the restaurant would have no choice but to close its doors permanently.
“I know so many of you, just like my family and me, have enjoyed the incredibly delicious food and warm hospitality that Hal and Barb bring seven days a week,” Day said on the GoFundMe. “Some of the hardest-working folks I know! This place has created years of memories for us and our friends. I pray we can create many more!”
The Vallemar Station Restaurant site has a long history on the coast. It was built in 1905 as a train station along the Ocean Shore Railroad and operated until 1920. The building still maintains similar architecture from a century ago.
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