A ShopHouse rice bowl. (Photo by Jason Bahr/Getty Images for Chipotle)

A man who wanted to mount a movement to save ShopHouse says he was lulled into a false sense of security until it was too late.

For Mason and his six-year-old son, heading to the fast-casual joint has become a family tradition.

Mason, a legal recruiter who lives in Dupont, says his son is a “super fan” and wants to go every Saturday and Sunday because he loves the noodle bowls. He has watched his son’s evolving tastes through his choices at ShopHouse, too. “At first he would only get meatballs and noodles,” he says. “Now he gets the sauce and veggies and mixes it all up,”

When he heard the news that Chipotle, which launched the Southeast Asian chain, was giving up on the concept in October, he launched the Twitter account @SaveShopHouse to advocate on its behalf. But he didn’t organize beyond retweeting because he was assured that the doors would stay open.

“It was kind of shocking and we were worried, but we kept being assured they weren’t going to close them,” he says. “It wasn’t ideal, but it was relieving that the word from the chain is that they would keep them open or maybe find a buyer.”

On Thursday, Chipotle announced that it had sold the leases for its locations and plans to close them all by March 17. For Mason, it capped off an already bad week—all three of his kids had fallen ill.

“I wish I had more time to know so we could have gone more, or maybe reach out to them and come up with a pitch to save one of the stores,” he says. “Why would they close these successful stores?”

He lives across from the first-ever location of ShopHouse in Dupont, where his six year old “is a celebrity,” and works right by the Chinatown spot. He secured tickets for his son to attend the grand opening of the Union Station store. “He was so excited for that,” Mason says. “He even got to stay up late.”

Mason hasn’t told his son yet. “I was going to tell him last night but he was throwing up,” he says. As soon as his son feels better, they’ll return for “a final meal with the family.”

Of the total 15 ShopHouses that have opened, eight of them are in D.C. and Maryland. Chipotle has not responded to requests for comment about who purchased the leases and what will replace ShopHouse.

Update: Mason has told his son.

@DCist update: my son took the news well — sad and confused — but determined to find a new favorite place

— Save Shophouse (@saveshophouse) March 11, 2017