The Alternative Press

LIVINGSTON, NJ—Tìo Juan’s Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant, more commonly known as Margarita’s, has closed its Livingston branch over night with no warning. The restaurant, located at 372 West Mt. Pleasant Avenue, first opened its doors in June 2011.

As of now, the reasons behind the decision to close down have not been announced. The company’s Facebook page has not been updated since Thursday morning, and they were unreachable by telephone Friday morning. However, the closing has been confirmed by several now former employees of the Mexican chain.

Shortly after midnight, owner Neal Erman sent a message to his staff to announce the closing and thank everyone for their hard work over the past 15 months. Frankie O’Connor, a line cook, was initially shocked and told The Alternative Press that “the way and how abruptly [the closing] happened did come as a surprise.”

Servers, cooks, hostesses, and bartenders, who all lost their jobs over night, quickly turned to Facebook to express their apparent surprise about going out of business and feelings of betrayal. While some servers have other jobs or only worked part time, O’Connor explained that other “employees have nothing and don’t know what to do.”

Details of this story are still developing. For more information about this restaurant, visit
http://www.margs.com/locations/livingston