Chi-Chi's Closes Down, Two Businesses Left

Harvard students will have to go elsewhere for pitchers of strawberry margueritas and nachos as Chi-Chi's, a Mexican restaurant just outside the Square, closed last week.

There are no plans for the restaurant to reopen in the immediate future, said manager Mike Schwan. He refused to comment on the reason for the restaurant's closing.

The national franchise of Chi-Chi's is not closing and employees of the Cambridge branch will be relocated into other restaurants in the area, said Paul Heath, area supervisor for Chi-Chi's.

Heath also refused to comment on the reason for the closing. He said he did not know of the future plans for the site and that another Chi-Chi's would not be moving to Cambridge.

The restaurant opened five years ago, and three years ago became part of the national franchise, which has its headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.

Two other businesses have recently vacated the block of Massachusetts Avenue on which Chi-Chi's is located. Orson Welles Cinema, which was damaged by fire last spring, and the store on the corner have both been gutted. Videosmith and 1001 Plays are the two remaining businesses on the block.