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By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff WriterBusiness wasn't as brisk as before, the owner says. Another restaurant by the same name will remain open.
DADE CITY - Mallie Kyla's, a popular downtown restaurant, will end its run next week, closing for good after five years.
The move will not affect a restaurant by the same name in Brooksville. The two are not affiliated.
Jack Carr, who runs the Dade City restaurant, said the economic downturn and the lingering effects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks hit his business hard. With people spending more cautiously, fewer people make special trips for lunch, he said.
From noon to 1 p.m., the restaurant still is jammed with the lunchtime business crowd, but visitors and casual diners who used to help fill the restaurant during other hours aren't arriving in the numbers they used to.
"It's been a good run, but it's time to move on, do something else," Carr said.
Carr, 53, said he might return to the commercial food distribution industry he worked in before opening a restaurant.
Carr said he enjoyed his stay. His restaurant became a popular stop for the courthouse and county administration crowd, and Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb and now-retired Judge Maynard Swanson could be found sharing a table in the back nearly every weekday.
"I met a lot of great people," Carr said.
Larie Hensley said her restaurant, Mallie Kyla's at 510 E Liberty St. in Brooksville, continues to draw a strong lunchtime crowd and remains open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Carr said the last day for his Dade City restaurant will be Tuesday.