"With great sadness, we are closing the Borrone MarketBar," a message posted in the restaurant's window and on its website reads. "We are a family business, and our family situation at this time requires our attention."
When reached Thursday morning, owner Marina Borrone declined to comment.
Marina and her husband, Josh Pebbles, opened MarketBar at 1010 El Camino Real in February 2014, serving up market-inspired Italian dishes, cocktails, oysters, baked goods and more. They also sold take-out items from rotisserie chicken to prepared salads.
From left to right, Roy and Rose Borrone and Josh Pebbles and Marina Borrone at Borrone MarketBar on Jan. 22, 2014. Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac.
The Borrone family took over the space next door to their very successful cafe after Italian restaurant Cedro Ristorante closed in early 2013. Roy and Rose Borrone opened the first Cafe Borrone in Redwood City in 1979 before moving to the Menlo Park location a decade later.
One of the five Borrone children, Peter, and his wife also run Vesta in downtown Redwood City, which specializes in handcrafted wood-fired pizza and small plates. The youngest Borrone daughter and her husband opened their own joint in 2010 in Woodside, Station 1, which has since closed. They said at the time they were planning on opening a bakery in Redwood City.
Read more about the history of the family and its local restaurants here -- Borrone MarketBar: An exciting addition to an old favorite -- plus a review of MarketBar -- The best of all worlds.
