Shutdown impacts Seaside couple’s dream to open restaurant

It’s the “American dream” for husband and wife, Ben and Susan: owning their own restaurant.

“We’ve worked from dishwasher, busser, to server, to management. Our natural progression would be to own a restaurant,” said Ben Mosqueda.

Due to the longest government shutdown in United States history, their dream has come to a screeching halt.

On December 10th, the two got a stamp of approval on an SBA government funded loan to open their restaurant, only to be locked out of it 12 days later.

“When it hit the longest shutdown ever, we started to really freak out more and more. Now it’s day 34 and there’s no end in sight. We just don’t know when it’s going to end and if a bill is going to get taken to the President,” said Susan Mosqueda.

The bill to reopen the government failed to pass in the Senate, Thursday. This means more time waiting for Ben, Susan, and other nearby prospective business owners.

“I have two loans, including The Butter House, that were just about to be submitted for final approval, but we can’t do that because nobody is working there,” said Kathy Torres, an SBA Loan Officer with Monterey County Bank.

Monterey County Bank said that even after the government reopens, Ben and Susan will have to wait an additional 20 to 30 days for the loan to process.

Before the shutdown, the couple quit their jobs to dedicate their lives to transforming Seaside’s classic, Nifty 50’s, diner into a modern brunch hotspot called The Butter House.

As the government stalemate drags on, the Mosqueda’s are running out of time and money.

“If the government doesn’t open up, we will have to look for private funding, or an angel investor, or something. We’re just going to have to recalculate our steps, our dream,” said Ben.

Still, they are determined to see their dream through, together.

“We’ve just been there for each other. That’s all we can do,” said Ben.