Another one bites the dust

After 11 years of serving up fine food and cocktails to downtowners, The Black Crow has shut its doors for good. A note on the door says, somberly, “The economic recession this last year has made it impossible for us to continue operations.”

An e-mail message circulated over the weekend telling anyone with a gift certificate to the restaurant to call owner Tim Carrier for a refund is full of misinformation, Carrier said. He was unaware of the message and said that because all of The Black Crow’s assets had been frozen, he wouldn’t be able to give anyone their money back. Neither state nor federal law protects gift-card holders from losing their money in the case of a business closure or liquidation.

The restaurant, which occupied a large space on the corner of Second and Salem streets, closed on the first of the year and is just the latest—and most prominent—in a string of closures that includes Sicilian Market & Café, Pommes Frites, Baja Fresh and Maria’s Mexican Restaurant.