Prominent Historic 25th Street restaurant Zucca closes doors for good
Zucca Fine Italian Cuisine on Thursday, August 29, 2019, on 25th Street. The restaurant has closed for business.
Zucca Fine Italian Cuisine on Thursday, August 29, 2019, on 25th Street. The restaurant has closed for business.
Zucca Fine Italian Cuisine on Thursday, August 29, 2019, on 25th Street. The restaurant has closed for business.
Zucca Fine Italian Cuisine on Thursday, August 29, 2019, on 25th Street. The restaurant has closed for business.
OGDEN — A prominent Historic 25th restaurant has closed its doors.
Zucca Ristorante announced its decision to close earlier this month on Facebook.
“It is with a heavy heart to say this,” the Facebook post read. “We had to make the tough decision this weekend to close the restaurant. Thank you so much for your support over the years!”
The post is no longer available, as the restaurant deleted its Facebook page some time on Thursday afternoon.
Located on the south side of 25th Street, just east of Lincoln Avenue, Zucca served Italian cuisine out of one of the street’s most recognizable buildings. In the early part of the 20th century, the 225 25th Street locale housed several movie theaters, including the famed Rex Theatre. The Star Noodle Parlor opened at the site in the 1940s and was a mainstay on 25th Street for nearly 40 years.
Zucca moved to its 25th Street spot in 2015, after operating for several years in South Ogden. When Zucca relocated to downtown Ogden, it brought back the iconic neon dragon sigh that once marked the entrance to Star Noodle Parlor.
In 2017, Zucca owner Kirk Dean and Ogden developer Thaine Fischer began a new venture at the restaurant called “The Underground.” Set up in the basement of the property, The Underground featured a private dining area with live music and a hidden speakeasy disguised as a closet. Fischer has purchased and redeveloped several historic properties downtown, including the buildings that house Pig & a Jelly Jar, Even Stevens Sandwiches, Harley and Bucks and The Monarch.
Danielle Collier, marketing and communications coordinator for Ogden Downtown Alliance, said the news came as a surprise to her organization. She said the Zucca closing, coupled with the shuttering of 25th Street bookstore Booked on 25th, is a blow for the shopping district, but likely doesn’t signal the start of a negative trend.
“Things are still great on 25th Street,” she said. “Those closings are definitely sad, but you have to expect some turnover in a small business setting.”
The Standard-Examiner was unable to reach Zucca owners on Thursday.