Jamms Restaurant and Bar has been an institution in Mystic, Connecticut since 1984, known for good food, good service and a kitchen opened until midnight. After 25 years, it closed Monday night because of a bad economy and slow summer tourism season.
“You've just got to go with flow,” co-owner Scott O’Neill said. “We have all these people coming back. It’s kind of nice.”
The restaurant is closing shop, the owners say, because of the bad economy. They were hoping to make it through the recession with a strong summer, but tourism was extremely slow.
“There wasn’t really a moment,” O’Neill said. “It’s gradual. Almost a year ago exactly things started to drop off.”
Jamms has had the same owners since it opened and many of the same employees, including David Barnes. When he started working at Jamms, his daughters were little children. Now, his girls will be two of the 25 employees left looking for work.
“As they get older and older, lots of time they drift apart. It’s nice having them around,” Barnes said.
Susan Grills has been coming to Jamms every Friday for the past 15 years.
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“I’m very sad about hearing the news, but we all are. We’re all just one big family here," Grills said.
