Editor’s note: Nosh covers food and restaurant news across the East Bay, and each week we publish one article covering all the restaurant openings and one article covering closings. Have a tip for Nosh? Submit it here.
Update 02.13.25: After this story published, Matt Horn posted a message to both Kowbird’s and his own Instagram accounts that confirmed the West Oakland restaurant is permanently closed. In the announcement, Horn thanked customers and the community for support, and pointed to slow business and ongoing building code violations as reasons for the closure.
“The lack of meaningful support for small businesses, the lack of a framework to nurture and sustain us, has taken a toll. No amount of passion can change that reality. It’s disheartening to see how small businesses like ours are overlooked, and it’s even harder to face the financial and emotional toll it takes on the people who make it all happen,” Horn wrote.
Original post: Reddit sleuths pointed out that Kowbird, a fried chicken joint owned by chef Matt Horn that first opened in 2022, has apparently shuttered. One Redditor posted a photo of a notice on the door that appears to have come from the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and indicates water service was terminated due to non-payment. The notice includes the address for Kowbird and is dated Jan. 27, 2025. Others reported seeing signs on the window related to a lawsuit for ADA violations, which was brought by Albert Dytch, who has filed hundreds of such cases and was profiled by The New York Times in 2021.
The closure comes after Horn’s other venture, Horn Barbecue, faced multiple legal and financial hurdles before it shuttered following a fire that the Oakland Fire Department investigated as arson. Horn then rebranded his Old Town Oakland restaurant Matty’s Old Fashioned as Horn Barbecue. In December, a second location of Horn Barbecue opened in Lafayette. Kowbird was located at 1733 Peralta St. in Oakland.
Reddit sleuths pointed out that Kowbird, a fried chicken joint owned by chef Matt Horn, has apparently shuttered. One Redditor posted a photo of a notice on the door that appears to have come from the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and indicates water service was terminated due to non-payment. The notice includes the address for Kowbird and is dated Jan. 27, 2025. Others reported seeing signs on the window related to a lawsuit for ADA violations, which was brought by Albert Dytch, who has filed hundreds of such cases and was profiled by The New York Times in 2021.
The closure comes after Horn’s other venture, Horn Barbecue, faced multiple legal and financial hurdles before it shuttered following a fire that the Oakland Fire Department investigated as arson. Horn then rebranded his Old Town Oakland restaurant Matty’s Old Fashioned as Horn Barbecue. In December, a second location of Horn Barbecue opened in Lafayette. Kowbird was located at 1733 Peralta St. in Oakland.
