Employees learned the news on Monday.  When they closed Joe Root's Grill Sunday night, it was closed for good.

Owner Elmer Keisel decided to retire.  He's already spending time each month in Florida and was ready. “Twenty plus years in the business, I’m eligible for social security and I’m going to take it and retire,” he said.

Keisel who had worked in restaurant chains opened Joe Roots on July 9, 1999. Initially he leased space on Presque Isle State Park, but after seven years, when he moved to the current location at 8th and Peninsula, he purchased a restaurant space that had seen many owners and many concepts. 

He’s pleased that he was able to make it work for as long as he did.  "A lot of independent restaurants fail, I feel very blessed from the Erie Community that we were able to sustain it for over 20 years."

The owner quietly put the restaurant on market at the beginning of summer.  It’s listed for $1.6 million, that's with all the amenities inside, from the dishes to the recipes and the liquor license.

A handful of employees were inside the restaurant Tuesday, working to clean up Joe Roots and get it ready for sale.

Some 40 employees are affected by the closing. They were surprised when Keisel called a meeting Monday and told them the restaurant was coming to an end.

Stephanie Doray started at the restaurant at age 16, working up from a hostess to a full-time manager. She said there wasn’t a dry eye in the place when Keisel shared his plans. “We all, I think, kind of had an idea Elmer was ready to be done, but we were shocked,” Doray said. “We don’t know what we’re going to do, a lot of us are so close we’re just a family, I’d say half the staff has been here over 10 years, so it’s hard it’s a hard one for us to handle.”

 The owner is honoring Joe Root’s gift cards.  People were stopping Tuesday by for a cash refund.

Keisel said he has a couple of prospective buyers, but if the property doesn’t move quickly, he’ll take action.  “Maybe I’ll auction off the fixtures, dishes…and possibly the liquor license cause they’re a hot commodity right now.”

Employees said the owner is helping many of them to find opportunities in other restaurants.  Keisel  said the hardest part of the decision was telling his employees. “The most rewarding part of it is the family atmosphere that we built with the staff, I have many long-term employees and we are truly family and that’s what I’ll miss the most."