VERNON, Connecticut — After seven years, Craig’s Kitchen in Vernon has closed.
Craig Wright’s restaurant was known for its soul food and giving back to the community, but after seven years, he says it all became too much.
Wright opened the restaurant on West Main Street back in 2017
A convicted felon, Wright found solace in the kitchen, and for the last several years he’s shared that with the community.
But, Craig says it became overwhelming, so two months ago, he decided to close the business.
“For the last seven years, I’ve worked 100 hours at least a week," Wright said.
Wright says social media, the pandemic and inflation all played a hand in closing.
“Back in 2019, the price of an oil case was $20. Today, it’s $50 to $55. And that’s just food, we aren’t even talking about the utilities,” Wright said. “Now the minimum wage is up so you have to play employees more and everything has went up and you can only raise your prices for your customers so much to try and cover it.”
He closed down his restaurant quietly, waiting until Friday to give an update.
“I felt shame, like when you fall,” he said. “I kind of felt like I fell on my face and, for a lack of a better term, [I] didn’t want to face the music.”
Wright now spends his days working at a retirement home as a food service director.
He says he lives every day knowing he was able to achieve his dream of owning a restaurant.
“That’s why I don’t feel like a failure,” Wright said. “No matter the past seven years, no matter what we went through, it doesn’t matter because at this point going forward, I was able to change my life. My family is very proud of me, I was able to get my record expunged, and the sky is the limit as far as I’m concerned.”
The closure of his restaurant isn’t a good bye forever, but for now he wants to give his space to someone who wants to get into the restaurant industry.
----
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com.
----
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.