Adding insult to injury, someone stole the signage at Silky Sullivan’s Irish Pub in Fountain Valley on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, three days after the closure of the 40-year-old restaurant.
“We took the sign down from the front, put it around back of the restaurant and covered it with a tarp on Wednesday,” said Bill Madden, co-owner of Silky Sullivan’s, in a phone interview. “It was there on Thursday morning, but someone stole it on Thanksgiving night.”
The carved, wooden marquee sign perched atop a cement mantle had been at the corner of Slater Avenue and San Mateo Street for more than four decades.
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“I couldn’t believe,” Madden continued. “It’s not of use to anyone. And if someone shows it off, someone is bound to say, ‘Hey, that’s their sign!’”
Madden estimates that the sign is worth roughly $4,000.
“We filed a police report and then word got out, especially on Facebook,” he said. “We’ve received nothing but a great responses from people, but it’s our original sign, for God’s sake, and I would love it back.”
Also of note, Madden’s sign was pinched kitty-corner from the Fountain Valley Police Department.
Anyone with information about the sign’s whereabouts should reach out on Silky Sullivan’s Facebook page at facebook.com/silkysullivans.
The 40-year-old Fountain Valley institution, an unofficial community hub noted for Irish comfort food, served its final meal at its Slater Avenue location on Monday, Nov. 25. Silky Sullivan’s closed its doors in to make way for a new mixed-use housing complex that will include dining, retail and more.
Madden says that he plans on reopening Silky Sullivan’s at another Fountain Valley location, the details of which will be announced at a later date.