Jade on the Water, a popular local eating and gathering spot for people in the area, has shut its doors as of March 23, according to local reports and former employees.
Local owner Rod Frontino told a Long Beach website over the weekend that the massive, 7,000 square foot facility formerly known as Forbidden City was closed permanently on Monday, March 23.
“This sign goes on the door, website, and socials Monday morning: ‘Jade is closed to pursue new concepts and opportunities. Thank you for every visit and the years of community support’,” Frontino told longbeachize.com.
“The decor of the space is truly beautiful,” Rod told me back in 2019. “We had little work to do as we moved around the space, just touch-ups here and there. The decor was the inspiration behind the name. The previous owners [Michael Brausen and Gao Yan] had a lotus blossom fountain hand-carved from a jade boulder.”
Local resident Shawn Kelly, who kept the bar area humming for more than seven years, said this past Sunday, March 22, was a particularly “emotional” day.
“We only found out Friday that we were closing,” said Kelly, noting that on Sunday, crowds of friends and supporters showed up for a final visit.
“It was absolutely jam packed,” said Kelly, who in his spare time was also well known for having a singing voice that allowed him to sing like Robert Plant in the local Led Zeppelin tribute band, Led Zepland.
“It was like a Cheers bar,” said Kelly, and “I tried to built it up to that.”
“The locals are what made it what it was,” he said. “We had a great clientele, they were all wonderful people and now they’re all my friends,” he said.
“All the people that came in to support us were there and I’m still tired from an unbelievable closing day,” said Kelly.
“Everyone was sad and upset that it is closing,” he added.
“We don’t know what, if anything is going to happen,” he said, and “if anyone can get the capital, rebrand and reopen it, you know, I’d love to be a part of it.”
The restaurant, which sits on the water in Marina Pacifica, featured Asian fusion cuisine, and its entrance was highlighted by a 5,000-lotus-blossom carving carved from a nine-ton boulder imported from northern China.