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A recently opened midtown restaurant that specializes in American comfort food is permanently closing after 3-and-a-half months in business.
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Range Midtown on 1813 Capitol Ave. has closed after one of the restaurant’s co-owners said they weren’t able to pull in enough customers during the opening months.
Range first started in Roseville in 2018 at 1420 E Roseville Parkway. The midtown location was a part of an expansion effort, said Ahsan Ali, one of the owners.
“We have this restaurant in Roseville, thriving customers from the last eight years, great food, great vibe,” Ali said. “We thought we’d change it a bit, and midtown was a location. Unfortunately, it was not as well received as we thought.”
Ali blamed the closure of Range midtown on a number of reasons, including difficulty maintaining a business in Sacramento, its location and the disconnect between Range’s food and its customers.
“We understand Sacramento downtown in midtown is a very tough market for restaurants,” Ali said. “And maybe the support from the community was not that great, maybe because of the (American) food category.”
Ali said businesses have been struggling in midtown. In May, one of Range’s neighbors, 58 Degrees & Holding Co., closed. A month later, vegetarian restaurant, Mother, also closed. Overall, he said to survive in Sacramento, a business has to be truly exceptional.
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“It was not very well received, in my opinion,” Ali said. “It was an okay, average store…we don’t want an average. We expect above and beyond average.”
Another restaurant, The Breakfast Club at Midtown, will be replacing Range, Ali said. Range’s old signage has been stripped away and a banner with the new restaurant’s name and logo now hangs from the front of the patio.
The Breakfast Club is a chain restaurant from the Bay Area. It currently has locations in San Mateo, Campbell, Walnut Creek, Castro Valley, Lafayette, and San Jose.
Despite the midtown closure, the Roseville location will remain open. Ali said Range is looking to expand to other cities, including Walnut Creek, Livermore and Napa.
“If someone wants to eat, we’re open in Roseville,” Ali said. “We are expanding in different markets other than Sacramento. We realize a lot of brands come and go. Sacramento is very tough.”
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