Orange Box closes after 16 months

• Orange Box
• Look for a new Orange Box…somewhere else.

Chef Miguel Sanchez – currently cooking at Aixois – wanted to have lunch this afternoon at the Orange Box, a lunch-only venue at 2700 Jarboe. It was closed.

“Does anyone know the story?” he posted on Facebook.

Well…yes. The Fast Pitch tracked down chef Scott Welsch, the caterer who opened the restaurant 16 months ago. He says the 2700 Jarboe location is permanently closed, and he’s actively looking for a new location.

“I got tired of kicking a dead horse,” says Welsch, who is continuing to operate the 10-year-old Orange Box catering. “I loved the location, but I wasn’t getting the business I needed to take the restaurant to the next step. And to keep the place going, I was draining money from my catering company.”

“I had great repeat customers who came in frequently,” Welsch says. “But I wasn’t getting to the next step.”

Welsch is working with a real-estate broker to scout a new location. “I’m not interested in the Plaza or the Power & Light District. I’d like to stay near the Crossroads, but I’m also open to Waldo or Brookside.”