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May 13, 2020

Barcelona restaurant furloughs 82 Stamford, West Hartford employees amid COVID-19 shutdowns

PHOTO | FLICKR/BING Barcelona restaurant is a popular tapas bar with several locations in Connecticut, including in Stamford.
By Joe Cooper

Barcelona Wine Bar has temporarily furloughed 82 workers at its Stamford and West Hartford restaurants due to a major loss of business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a state labor filing shows.

The Spanish-style restaurant chain, acquired last fall by Greenwich-based private equity firm L Catterton, in a May 2 notice filed with the state Department of Labor (DOL) said it furloughed 47 employees in West Hartford and another 35 in Stamford between March 18 and April 1. 

Barcelona, like many Connecticut restaurants, has been open for delivery and takeout sales since a statewide ban on dine-in services was issued in mid-March to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

It's not yet clear whether Barcelona has furloughed workers at company locations in Fairfield, New Haven and Norwalk. The restaurant could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

"Our need to furlough these employees was caused by COVID-19-related business circumstances... ." Barcelona said in a letter to DOL. "...the company is hopeful that the actions it is taking are temporary and that some or all of these employees will be able to return to work in the future."

The Barcelona layoffs are surfacing a month after Bartaco restaurant, which is also owned by L Catterton, informed state labor officials it planned to temporarily lay off 190 employees at its locations in West Hartford, Westport and Stamford due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Bartaco began operating at 971 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford in 2012, and Barcelona debuted in an adjoining building there years prior.

Restaurants in recent days received new guidelines for how they can reopen outdoor dining service starting May 20, but not all eateries are planning to begin welcoming guests on-site.

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