Old-School Seafood Restaurant Francisco’s Centro Vasco Closes Permanently — Again

Francisco’s Centro Vasco — the family-owned Chelsea seafood restaurant that’s been around since 1979 — has closed permanently yet again.

Owners of the Spanish restaurant at 159 West 23rd Street, between 7th and 6th avenues, announced that they’d be closing in July, but shortly after, Javier Quintans changed his mind and reopened it in August.

But on Monday, the restaurant’s voicemail said that Francisco’s had closed permanently once again. A sign on the door also notes the restaurant’s closure, and the restaurant’s website and business Facebook have disappeared. Eater left a message with the owners and will update with further info.

For nearly 40 years, the Quintans family ran the restaurant, serving an expansive seafood menu with shrimp, clams, oysters, and mussels. A grilled lobster was the go-to order though, as was a lot of sangria.

Original owner Francisco Quintans died in 2015, and his son Javier took over from there. The family owns the current building. When Javier explained his decision to close earlier this year, he said that managing the restaurant was getting to be too much. Business also wasn’t as robust as it used to be.

“I felt like the business owned me, as opposed to me owning the business,” he told DNAinfo at the time.

Javier previously said he planned to sell the building as well. According to Department of Finance records, that has not yet happened.