Lenehan's, Adelino's join failed downtown eateries

Jonas Lenehan always dreamed of owning a pub in downtown Lafayette.

But later this month, he'll close the doors at Lenehan's Pub at 601 Main St. and walk away from that dream forever.

"It's difficult down here," Lenehan said. "Unless there's a festival or some sort of event downtown, there's not a whole lot of foot traffic."

Lenehan's will close Feb. 21 after less than two years at its location on the corner of Main and Sixth streets.

More alarming is that the restaurant's demise is just the latest in a string of closures of downtown eateries.

This week, Adelino's Old World Kitchen closed its doors, following an eviction complaint filed last week. After more than five years of business at 112 N. Third St., the restaurant found itself facing more than $33,000 in unpaid rent and utilities, according to court records.

Property owner Witeveen & Kessler LLC. filed a complaint Jan. 27 in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1 to regain possession of the property. In the complaint, attorneys state the restaurant failed to pay rent from December 2014 to January 2015 and has not paid nearly $20,000 in its share of utility costs.

A phone number listed for Tracy Rosa, the restaurant's owner, was disconnected as of Wednesday.

Adelino's and Rosa have a history of financial trouble, including several small claims cases, according to Tippecanoe County court records. Three cases are unresolved. In 1996, according to court records, Rosa was charged with theft and receiving stolen property — both Class D felonies — that were later converted to Class A misdemeanors.

Andrew Gutwein, a Lafayette attorney who has represented Adelino's and Rosa in past financial matters, declined to comment on the situation via a secretary.

Lafayette economic development director Dennis Carson was disappointed to learn of the closures.

"I never like to hear that a business is closing because I know how much effort these owners put in them," Carson said. "But without knowing exactly why or what particular challenges they have or had, it's difficult to say what could have been done or how we could help."

Carson said groups like Greater Lafayette Commerce and Friends of Downtown try to make downtown inviting to potential customers.

But it's not always enough.

"The restaurant industry is very competitive and consumer tastes are always changing," Carson said.

Serendipity owners closed their restaurant at 731 Main St. last year after two years downtown.

Ivan Brumbaugh made the same decision last November when he closed his two eateries, Main Street Cheese & Wine and Uncorked, due to a lack of business.

Brumbaugh's was one of a handful of downtown restaurants to suffer tax trouble last year — a problem that spilled into the public eye when the state required Uncorked, Bistro 501 and Sunrise Diner to plaster bright orange signs on their doors to alert customers to unpaid taxes.

Bistro 501 and Sunrise Diner remain open sans signs.

The space occupied by Lenehan's is particularly notorious. In less than a decade, five businesses have opened and died in that location:

First was Cajun Connection, opened in 2003 and closed in 2007.

Next up, Scagnoli's Cajun & BBQ, opened April 24, 2008, before closing March 2009.

In 2011, La Salsa opened; it lasted four months.

DT Kirby's opened a family-style off-shoot of its sports bar in the space in October 2011. That restaurant lasted one year.

And now Lenehan's, which opened in May 2013. Lenehan named it after his father, who owned O'Lenehan's Pub in Frankfort.

The family closed the Frankfort location in order to devote its full attention to Lafayette.

Lenehan said business was rough. He had anticipated more foot traffic from Purdue University students but instead found the majority had no interest in crossing the river.

"I sat down with a lot of my family probably around September and said if things don't turn around this fall there's a good chance we're probably going to be closing after the first of the year," Lenehan said.

Things only compounded recently when the building was sold and Lenehan was unable to come to terms on a new lease with the new owners. The pub's fate was sealed.

"It's extremely disappointing," Lenehan said. "But it is what it is. It's disappointing but I'll move on. I've got a family to think about."