San Diego

Security Breach at Restaurant Chain Elephant Bar May Affect Customers' Cards Across 7 States

A security breach at the restaurant chain Elephant Bar may have affected some customers' payment cards if they dined at one of their locations across seven states, including one in San Diego County, the company revealed Tuesday.

Some customers who used their cards at certain locations in California, Colorado, Arizona, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico and Florida may be affected by the security breach, which the company first received word about on Nov. 3 by its card processor, said Dallas-based CM Ebar, LLC, which owns the chain, in a statement.

"Based upon an extensive forensic investigation, it appears that unauthorized individuals installed malicious software on our payment processing systems at certain locations designed to capture payment card information," the statement reads.

Name, payment card account number, card expiration date and verification code may have all been compromised as a result of the malware, the company said. Social Security numbers, addresses or other similar information was not affected, the company said.

Elephant Bar has a location in San Marcos on State Highway 78, in San Diego County. Across California, there are locations in Downey, La Mirado, Lakewoof, Montclair, Torrance and West Covina. Additionally, the restaurant has three locations in Colorado, two in Arizona, and one each in Florida, Missouri, New Mexico and Nevada.

The breach appears to have affected customers who used their card between Aug. 12 and Dec. 4, though the timing varies by location, the company said. San Marcos location customers who used a card between Sept. 11 and Nov. 24 may have been affected, according to the company.

CM Ebar, LLC, said in a statement they are treating the issue as a “top priority” and have taken steps to address the situation.

"We have disabled the malware and have reconfigured our point-of-sale and payment card processing systems to enhance the security of these systems. In addition, we are in contact with law enforcement and will continue to cooperate with its investigation. We are also coordinating with payment card companies,” the statement reads.

At this time, it is safe to use payment cards at all Elephant Bar locations as the incident has been contained, the company said.

For a full list of affected locations and more detailed time frames, click here.

The company recommends those looking for additional help call (866) 578-5412 for assistance.

Contact Us