FARGO-The owner of a downtown restaurant that closed after three months said he shut down because of the difficulty of hiring workers.

Magnolia's Restaurant, 402 Broadway, taped signs to its doors and added a short post to its Facebook page Friday, May 12, saying the eatery had closed. It opened Feb. 15, taking the place of Kitchen Gremlin, which was open from October 2015 to December 2016.

Owner Rodolfo Romo said Monday, May 15, that the abrupt closure came down to one issue.

"The reason I closed this is because I couldn't find employees," he said.

Business and community leaders have increasingly raised concerns about a regional workforce shortage, including a projection of 30,000 jobs that will need to be filled in the Fargo-Moorhead metro in the next five years.

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Romo said customers with gift certificates or credit vouchers to Magnolia's can use them at any of the three Romo's Tacos locations in Fargo. Romo's Tacos, which is also owned by Romo, has locations in the Black Building, 118 Broadway N., as well as at 3402 13th Ave. S. and 1100 19th Ave. N.