Two restaurant closures stun Wayland Square. How much is the Washington Bridge to blame?

Gail Ciampa, Providence Journal
·2 min read

Spread too thin as owner/chef, and with two other businesses, Ben Lloyd will close his Salted Slate this month. The Wayland Square restaurant has had a 10-year run serving lunch, brunch and dinner in Providence. The last day of service is May 31.

"Everything is too crazy to get into another lease," Lloyd said during an interview. He called the restaurant "a behemoth" with 70 seats. Smaller restaurants are a better model right now.

"We just can't handle the volume," he said. "The way things are, we can't find cooks. I have to be there for every shift. I'm spread too thin."

Ben Lloyd is not ready to commit to another 10-year lease and will close his Salted Slate restaurant in Wayland Square after a decade.
Ben Lloyd is not ready to commit to another 10-year lease and will close his Salted Slate restaurant in Wayland Square after a decade.

Lloyd said everyone wants to talk about the challenges of the Washington Bridge closures and he said it doesn't help. "But that's not the reason" for his closing Salted Slate.

Lloyd has two other businesses, The Providence Wine Bar, which is also in Wayland Square, and XO Bar with Scott Champagne on North Main Street. He said the bartenders run the cocktail bar. But he's been running food over from Salted Slate to the wine bar and that cannibalizes his business. Going forward he will return to a menu of small plates at the wine bar.

The Salted Slate, with some 70 seats, has been a lunch, brunch and dinner spot for a decade in Providence's Wayland Square.
The Salted Slate, with some 70 seats, has been a lunch, brunch and dinner spot for a decade in Providence's Wayland Square.

Prices are up for everything, staffing the restaurant is a challenge and it's been like just surviving for four years, he said. "I don’t want to do that anymore."

Lloyd, 49, also has a wife, educator Nicole and two children about to become teenagers. He wants to be there for them more.

When you open a restaurant serving lunch, brunch and dinner, there's no going back, Lloyd said. It's what diners expect. But the grind of that model became too much.

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"We are grinding an old game," he said.

His career began at Neath's and Empire before he cooked at 10 Prime Steak & Sushi and XO Cafe. He was the chef at Tazza in downtown Providence before opening his Salted Slate.

Minerva's Pizza owner Kabalan Habchi with Peter Reinhart, author of "American Pie" in 2003, a year after Habchi and his wife Kaylin bought the restaurant.
Minerva's Pizza owner Kabalan Habchi with Peter Reinhart, author of "American Pie" in 2003, a year after Habchi and his wife Kaylin bought the restaurant.

A second Wayland Square institution, Minerva's Pizza at 20 South Angell St., has also closed. Kabalan and Kaylin Habchi bought the restaurant in 2002 and have run the pizzeria since.

The news was reported on Facebook. "Thank you Wayland Square ... we had a good run, it's the end of an Era."

They posted a broken heart at the end of the message.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence restaurants Salted Slate, Minerva's Pizza announce closures