Crisppi’s in Huntington goes days without opening

HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) — Three days of locked doors, an empty seating area and no signage at the Crisppi’s location in Huntington has many in the community questioning if they are closed permanently, while property owners say they’ve been told this is only temporary.

13 News Reporter Lane Ball reached out to the property owner regarding the current status of the lessees at 801 3rd Avenue, which is the Huntington Crisppi’s location.

The property owner says they’ve been told by lessees Kirk Hightower, Brittany Tolliferreo, and Randy Moss that they are temporarily “closing and discussing options for the future.”

They went on to say they are “still committed to Huntington” and are “trying to find the best path forward.”

The property owner says they can’t comment on any plans for the future of the restaurant, but they did say the lessees have been “very communicative” and they are “still paying rent.”

However, the lack of signage at the restaurant has left many in the community confused for the past couple of days.

Residents like Rachel Sullivan and Carlos Castillas were among many who walked by the restaurant, only to find an empty seating area and the doors locked.

“You can’t just close down a store and not expect customers to go by and be like, ‘Oh, what’s going on?’ I feel like they should have communicated a little bit better,” Castillas says.

“Especially somewhere like this location… It’s not always easy parking, so the way I think about it is, what if we were driving here? ‘Well, let’s go ahead and pay for the parking garage, we’re going to go eat at Crisppi’s.’ Now we just paid there, walked here, and was surprised. Google says they’re open, but they’re not,” Sullivan says.

The business, brought to the area by Marshall Football Alum and former NFL player Randy Moss, gathered a crowd for its opening day.

The restaurant later faced backlash and criticism after a manager posted a series of videos across social media citing bad reviews and comments against the restaurant being the result of discrimination from the community.

This came after several complaints about the restaurant not offering ketchup and only allowing cashless transactions. However, in July, the company announced they would start offering the condiment and cash would be accepted.

13 News has reached out to the restaurant’s owners for comment on plans for the location. As of Wednesday afternoon, they have not responded.

This is a developing story.

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