Friday, August 1, 2008

Two Flower Mound restaurants close unexpectedly

By Staff of Lantana Links

A pair of recently-opened Flower Mound restaurants within a stone's throw of each other closed suddenly in the past week, leaving area residents scratching their heads.

Fernando's Mexican Cuisine and Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza both shut their doors without warning in the Robertson's Creek shopping center at FM 2499 and Dixon Lane.

Fernando's owner, Fernando Padilla, contacted The Cross Timbers Gazette and said that he is hoping to reopen in the area soon. He declined to give specific reasons for the abrupt closure, but indicated that there was an issue between him and the shopping center's management.

Although the locally-owned restaurant was only four months old, it had attracted a loyal following.

"This is such sad news to hear. Fernando's is the best Mexican restaurant I have found in the state of Texas. We are praying that they reopen ASAP," wrote LantanaLinks.com forum poster Tony Sal.

Meanwhile, across the parking lot, Garlic Jim's Pizza quietly shut down their only North Texas location.

Calls to QSR Ventures, the Dallas-Fort Worth area franchisor representing Garlic Jim's, have not been returned. The pizza delivery shop had recently scaled back their operating hours and was only open in the evenings.

"Restaurants tend to struggle due to limited daytime population," said Theresa Fawcett, Flower Mound's Economic Development Specialist. Fawcett said that Flower Mound's daytime population is only about 11,000, which makes the competition fierce for the lunch crowd.

Officials from Inland Continental Property Management, who recently purchased the Robertson's Creek shopping center, said that they were disappointed to see the two restaurants leave.

"Fortunately, we are seeing significant interest from other restaurants for those two spaces," said company spokesman Matthew Tramel.

"We are extremely pleased with the overall leasing progress at Robertson's Creek, which is more than 90-percent occupied," Tramel added.

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