Employees at Island Grill were surprised to find the restaurant closed and locked Monday morning without explanation when they arrived for their regular shift.

Jason Wang, the owner of Island Grill, said he sold the business this week to Cafe Nola.

Wang said employees were not told of the sale because of a confidentiality agreement with the new owners.

“The transaction is so complicated, as of last Friday we were still not sure what day it would happen,” Wang said.

Wang explained that he was unable to give his employees notice of the change, due to an agreement between him and the buyer.

Telling the staff would have also risked a significant impact on the business before the transaction was complete, he said.

“I say something, everybody walk away,” Wang said. “So who is going to work for me?”

The change in ownership was official as of Tuesday afternoon, he said, and was sold to Kevin Warren, the owner of Cafe Nola.

Under the agreement, language in the contract states that an owner cannot publicly advertise the business is for sale, which in many cases bars them from sharing the impending change with employees and customers until the transaction is complete.

The papers were signed Monday and the business changed hands at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Employees, some who have worked at Island Grill for more than 10 years, were left disgruntled by the surprise closure.

Sherri Long said she began receiving calls from her coworkers Monday afternoon telling her that the restaurant was locked and closed. No signs were posted on the entrance.

She decided to drive to work to see for herself.

“Last thing he said to me was, ‘I’ll see you Monday,'” Long said her former employer told her after her shift Friday.

Wang told the staff he was planning on closing early on Sunday because he had to help his daughter move, and remodeling at the restaurant was to begin Monday, she said, but that’s all she knew.

They were told that the restaurant in the Island Village Shopping Center on High School Road would remain open through the remodel.

When she arrived Monday in time for her scheduled shift, the lights were off.

Inside, she could see that most of the items that decorated the business — wall hangings, chalkboards, vases — had been removed but the liquor shelf was still stocked.

Wang had just placed a liquor order the Tuesday prior, she said.

Employees said they had seen Wang loading his truck with items Sunday, including a large oriental vase that sits near the hostess station, but no one was concerned.

Long and her coworkers attempted to call Wang, but had yet to hear from him Tuesday.

The change in ownership left a lot of questions for employees.

Plans for the storefront have not been announced, and Warren of Cafe Nola could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Wang said, however, that Island Grill employees will receive their last paycheck this week.

They are also encouraged to apply to work at the incoming business, and he said he would recommend employees from his former staff.

Island Grill is the second restaurant on Bainbridge in the last two months to abruptly close.

Four Swallows closed its doors in October.

“We did not come to this decision lightly,” the 26-year-old restaurant announced on their Facebook page on its last day of business. “We worked diligently to secure a new lease, but unfortunately we were unable to come to an agreement with our landlords.”