Croce’s has closed

After 30 years in the Gaslamp (and two years in Bankers Hill), Croce’s, the iconic restaurant/jazz venue, has closed.

Croce’s closed

Named after late ‘60s/early ‘70s folk singer Jim Croce, his widow Ingrid opened Croce’s Restaurant & Jazz Bar in the Gaslamp as a tribute to her late husband, who died in a plane crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana in 1973.

Sold to Harry’s Bar & American Grill of the UTC area, Ingrid posted the following statement on crocesparkwest.com:

Do you know the story about when Jim Croce and I first moved to San Diego in 1973? We were so surprised when we went to the Gaslamp and saw our new downtown in such disrepair. There were no restaurants or music venues anywhere and we were hungry for both.

So Jim joked that we should open a restaurant and bar and have our friends like James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet, Arlo Guthrie, Bonnie Raitt, The Manhattan Transfer and more, come to play at our bar.

But a week later, Jim’s plane crashed and that dream was gone.

Then after 10 years of litigation, I wanted to recreate the warmth and energy of my time with Jim Croce, and those early days of entertaining together. So I built Croce’s Restaurant and Jazz Bar, right on the corner of Fifth and F, just where Jim and I had talked about it.

It took a long time for the Gaslamp Quarter to come of age. It was an uphill battle for so many years, but I wanted to do it for Jim Croce and his fans. So I poured my heart, soul, effort and lots and lots of money into my endeavor. Until finally, the Gaslamp came alive and we had foot traffic.

When we lost our lease in the Gaslamp Quarter after thirty years, my husband Jimmy Rock and I tried to recreate our dream in Banker’s Hill.

But you know Bob Dylan got it right when he sang “You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way.”

And unfortunately, we have found that live music isn’t the draw that we hoped and needed it to be. The piracy and devaluation of music has been such a major blow to us that we can no longer afford to support live music on our own. And it wouldn’t be Croce’s without live music.

In the end, Croce’s Park West was fabulous...the food, the ambience, the hospitality, the live music and our wonderful guests, who have become like friends and family. It was everything we wanted it to be! We feel it was a success.

We hope that the many wonderful memories and friendships that have been cultivated over all the years will endure. And we sincerely thank you all so very much for supporting us and for helping us to honor Jim Croce and the legacy of his music.

With gratitude,

Ingrid Croce and Jimmy Rock

Source: DiscoverSD