Owner of Popular Enfield Eatery Announces Imminent Closure

ENFIELD, CT — The owners of a popular breakfast and lunch restaurant on Route 190 have decided not to renew their lease on the building, and plan to move down south, according to a posting on Facebook.

For Love and Food Cafe, which opened at 117 Hazard Avenue four years ago, will close at "the end of September," owner Natasha Ruiz wrote in the Facebook post Monday.

Ruiz wrote a lengthy post explaining the circumstances of the decision to close, in response to questions surrounding the fate of the restaurant since the recent appearance of a "For Rent" sign in front of the building.

"The rumor mill has been swirling since the landlord put up the “for rent” sign," Ruiz wrote.

The complete text of her post reads:

"I know a lot of you have been asking, and yes we have decided not to renew our lease. It was a decision that has been in the works for almost 2 years. The original plan was to find another location that suited our needs a little better. But our search did not lead to anything that fit, so we extended our lease for another year and still didn’t find what we were looking for. Then life started throwing us curve balls, our daughter moved to Texas and our youngest has decided to join our other son in the Navy. My husband and I will be empty nesters and we reevaluated what we wanted (what a concept, we got to ask what we wanted for a change), and what we wanted was not here in Connecticut. After months of debate, and soul searching we’ve decided to move on, find our place.

My husband accepted a job in Maryland, he actually started it today. I will, however, be here for the next few months to close the café and hopefully sell and pass the torch to the next care takers as well as see my son off to the navy and get my house sold. We are not certain on our last day yet, my plan is the end of September.

My employees have been so gracious through all of this as they know how hard this decision has been for me.

Please, if you have any questions just ask me. The rumor mill has been swirling since the landlord put up the “for rent” sign.

Thank you so much for your patronage, we have made so many friends and will forever be grateful for your support."

• "One of the only places to get great food and an original menu!"
• "Have raved about the mac’n’cheese to all my visitors from as far as the UK!"
• "You and your food made our celebrations extra special."
• "We will certainly miss your food and cupcakes!"
• "I spent 20 years in the restaurant industry. Places like yours are rare gems. You will be truly missed."