The Jake's staff (owner Kevin Ross is pictured centre front row) gather for a final goodbye

After 25 years, Jake's Neighbourhood Grill on Lansdowne St. W. is no more. The restaurant has been for sale since last August but hasn't found a buyer, and last night owner Kevin Ross gathered his staff together after work to tell them Jake's is officially shutting down. Above is the farewell picture of the amazing staff taken shortly after Ross made the announcement.

Jake's—and Ross—have become an institution in Peterborough, and it's very difficult for the staff, its patrons and the community to say goodbye. Some of the staff had been with Ross since the very beginning. "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed," Ross says, taking a quote from Theodore Roosevelt.

Ross has changed his sign to say "Thank You Peterborough". We say "Thank You Jake's".