After just a year and a half on the scene, The Purple Onion will be closing on Sunday, January 15. There's a bit of a long story behind it involving the having (or not) of proper licenses and all sorts of stuff that's all pretty byzantine, but at the end of the day, it's come down to the fact that the landlord has pushed them out with the lease expiring. There are no hard feelings though, just one of those crazy, convoluted China situations.

Bit of a tough loss for its fans; chef Lex Hauser is good at what he does and the place has a fun hidden feel to it even after you've been there a few times.

The good news in the long term is that they're keeping the brand and hoping to revive it in the near future. TPO has actually been anticipating something of this sort and has been looking for another space for the last six months, but nothing's come together yet. They're hoping, optimistically, to reopen by the end of 2012.

The better news in the short term is that they'll be doing something fun on Sunday night with drink specials for those who'd like to come by and wave goodbye. Should be a good time with the fun crew that works there.

Fun fact: The Purple Onion, in its original conception, was meant to be called The Basil Green Door. Let's hope it gets back up and running again sometime soon.

[Update: Chef Lex Hauser may be asked to head up the Fat Olive that's about to open in Jinqiao.]