NEWPORT, Ky. -- Dick’s Last Resort at Newport on the Levee has closed permanently -- and unexpectedly -- after two years in business, according to Newport on the Levee general manager Harold Dull.

"We were totally surprised," Dull said of the closure.

The store at Newport was profitable, Dull said, but its sudden shuttering came down from the top. In a phone conversation, Dull said that Jeff Ash, brand president of the Nashville-based restaurant chain, told him that four Dick's locations had closed in the last month as a consequence of corporate financial trouble: One in San Diego, one in Orlando, one in Columbus and one in Newport.

The Newport restaurant, which sported sarcastic servers and a menu of southern comfort food, opened March 11, 2014 and closed Oct. 30, 2016.

Newport on the Levee management will now begin considering other tenants for the 8,500 square-foot space at Third and Saratoga streets.

"We talked to our brokers today about that, and obviously it’s another opportunity for us to explore," Dull said.