Restaurants are struggling to stay in business at Carmel’s Barnyard Shopping Village.

When Marco Chavelas purchased Lugano Swiss Bistro in the Barnyard in 2019, he already knew the restaurant well. He had been working there since 1995 and had gotten to know many customers on a first-name basis. He’d entertain them with magic tricks. Tips were great, and business was booming. The restaurant also had a relationship with touring agencies, cutting a deal with groups from Germany, Switzerland, France, Argentina and Canada. Tour buses would bring visitors to Lugano where they were offered a robust meal – including coffee, soup, a main course and dessert – for around $18-$20 a person.

Shortly after he purchased the business and made renovations to the kitchen, dining area and walk-in fridge, the pandemic arrived.

“We used to have 10 buses a day between 11am and 4pm,” Chavelas says. “After Covid, there’s only a few a year.”

Compounding this loss of business, Chavelas faced rising labor and supply costs, as well as an increase in rent through Common Area Maintenance fees, paid by tenants to landlords to cover overhead and operating expenses. The Barnyard Shopping Village was acquired by Barnyard Carmel, LLC – owned by Sidney Family Limited Partnership in Manhattan Beach – in 2023 for $23 million.

He says his monthly dues doubled, from around $6,500 per month prior to the pandemic. After falling behind on rent payments, he put up Lugano for sale for an asking price of $99,000 with the rent listed at $12,500/month.

Recent changes in the Barnyard suggest Lugano is not alone. Another restaurant in Barnyard, whose name is not publicly disclosed, is listed for sale with an asking price of $250,000.

In the last year-and-a-half, Robata Grill & Sake Bar and the Noodle Palace closed. Two years after purchasing Robata, Josie Sinkler, one of the owners, posted on Nextdoor on Nov. 5, 2024: “EVERYTHING in the restaurant must go.” The Noodle Palace closed in September, and has remained empty since.

Lugano is expected to sell in about a month-and-a-half, says Chavelas, who’s working multiple jobs to stay afloat. He is the general manager at Round Table in Seaside, owns multiple food trucks and runs food tents for special events. To repay rent debt and loans from buying the business, he put up his house for sale.

Sidney Family Partnership did not respond to a request for comment.