Downtown’s Punch Bowl Social terminates 91 employees as part of closure

Punch Bowl Social, a downtown restaurant, bar and entertainment venue, plans to terminate 91 employees, according to a notice to the state.

The letter to the Department of Workforce Development said the layoffs would be permanent.

A Punch Bowl Social spokeswoman, however, said the chain is closing its locations temporarily because, “due to the inherently social nature of Punch Bowl Social,” it is not offering curbside pickup or delivery.

“The company will announce reopening plans on their social channels down the road,” the spokeswoman said.

“The layoff results from the unexpected and unforeseen business circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disaster,” the letter to the state said.

Punch Bowl Social opened at 120 S. Meridian Street in September 2016, taking 23,000 square feet in Circle Centre space once occupied by Nordstrom.

The venue includes eight bowling lanes, two bocce courts, three private karaoke rooms and three bars. It is part of a Denver-based chain with 20 locations.

The terminated employees include 25 servers, 18 cooks and 16 bar workers.

Employees received notice of the dismissals on Monday.

On Monday, Gov. Eric Holcomb directed restaurants to stop serving food to dine-in customers as soon as possible, and switch to carryout- and delivery-only service through the end of March. That same day, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett ordered restaurants to cease dine-in service by 8 a.m. Tuesday.