The economy and slow business has forced the owners of Cafe Dupré to scale back the McComb restaurant’s operations.
Owners Russ and Nancy Guzzo said Tuesday that they’ll close the restaurant, keep the bar open and offer a limited food menu.
Russ Guzzo, who has owned the restaurant for seven years, said he and his wife reached the decision to close the restaurant over the weekend.
He said the move forced them to lay off 12 employees.
Nancy Guzzo said the bar will be open until 11 p.m., and meals will be served there from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.
“We wanted to keep the restaurant open, but the economy just wouldn’t let us,” she said. “People just weren’t coming in like they used to. They’re just not eating out like they have.”
The decision to close the restaurant comes several weeks after the Guzzos completed a reconfiguration and expansion of the restaurant, and held a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of the completed project.
“We were trying whatever we could to stay open, including offering a seafood buffet,” the Guzzos’ son, Joshua, said. “But it just didn’t work, and we had the cost of keeping the restaurant open.”
“We’re hoping that the economy will change and we’ll eventually be able to open the restaurant again in the future,” Nancy Guzzo said.
