Gourmet Dining Invites Former Don Pablo’s Employees to Apply After Restaurant Closure

GLASSBORO, N.J. ⁠— Gourmet Dining has extended an open invitation for job interviews to former employees of the Deptford area Don Pablo’s restaurant that closed suddenly on June 23rd.

The New Jersey-based food service provider is looking to hire more employees as it prepares for the upcoming fall semester at Rowan University ⁠— where they operate 20 different eateries.

“We would be honored to extend an opportunity to apply and interview for open positions here on Rowan’s campus to all the hard working employees of the Deptford location of Don Pablo’s that were left jobless by this surprise shutdown.” Gourmet Dining Director of Operations Al Irons said in a press release. “We are always looking for experienced food service workers, cooks and shift supervisors to assist in offering top notch customer service and high quality food to the Rowan community.”

The offer is open to everyone — not just former Don Pablo’s employees. Anyone who is interested may apply online at the Compass Group website. There are full-time and part-time positions available. They are looking to hire cooks, food service workers, and general utility workers.

Many of these are roles that former Don Pablo’s employees had served in before the Deptford restaurant’s sudden closure last month. Don Pablo’s had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in 2016 when they closed approximately 50% of their stores. The Deptford location was the final store, and with its closure, all Don Pablo’s restaurants are now defunct. Facebook pages for both the Deptford store and the company as a whole were shut down on June 24th.

Gourmet Dining has been operating in New Jersey since 1987. Specifically, they integrated into Rowan University’s campus in 2014. “It’s our mission at Gourmet Dining to bring fresh ideas and innovative concepts to higher education food service.” Irons continued. “We foster development in a setting where mobility, teamwork, and
communication can flourish.”

They are New Jersey’s largest regional dining service company offering on-site food service management for educational, corporate, healthcare and long term care facilities throughout New Jersey. They serve the New Jersey and New York region and employ over 2,000 full-time and 500 part-time employees with annual sales of over $95 million per year.