Published: July 01, 2009 08:59 am      

Closing time for O’Mally’s

Owner has no plans to reopen restaurant

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

What was meant to be a temporary closing has turned permanent for O’Mally’s Eatery & Pub on the Cumberland Falls Highway.

Owner Gary Hatfield said O’Mally’s lease with property owner Jimmy Vance expired Tuesday, and he has no plans to reopen the restaurant.

“I got behind on the taxes and Jimmy (Vance) is wanting to sell the property anyhow,” Hatfield said. “We couldn’t come up with the money quick enough to get it back open to meet the lease requirement.”

O’Mally’s closed earlier this month after its owners were unable to resolve taxes owed to the state in time to renew its liquor license.

According to the Kentucky Department of Revenue, O’Mally’s is past due on withholding taxes and sales taxes of nearly $100,000 since March 2008.

Liens have been filed against both establishments owned by CLM Restaurants, Inc. — O’Mally’s and O’Mally’s 2 —  and against Hatfield personally seeking payment on total taxes, fees and penalties of $98,759.79, as of two weeks ago.

O’Mally’s liquor license expired in May, but the Alcohol Beverage Control Board wouldn’t re-issue the license until the problems with the lien and the Dept. of Revenue were resolved.

Hatfield said O’Mally’s employees, of which there were about 10-12 when the restaurant closed, were notified of the permanent closure. Many of them have found jobs at Sizzlin’ Roadhouse, which has recently opened nearby on Cumberland Falls Highway in the former El Dorado’s Restaurant building.

Hatfield said business at O’Mally’s had been declining, which ultimately led to the restaurant’s financial and tax woes.

“Business dropped off and it seemed it just kept dropping and dropping,” Hatfield said. “Don’t get me wrong, I made a mistake and I didn’t get the taxes paid, because they weren’t the ones (among the collectors) bothering me as much.”

O’Mally’s 2, located in the Tri-County Square Shopping Center, will continue to operate and has seen a slight increase in business since the other restaurant’s closing, Hatfield said.

The second restaurant seats about 180 people, has a larger dance floor, a salad bar, karaoke and live music in the evenings, and about three times less overhead than the Cumberland Falls Highway location.

“It’s just a lot easier to operate with less overhead,” Hatfield said.

He said he’s also working out payments with the state and other vendors over the original O’Mally’s.

“We didn’t have deep pockets, and we just did everything we could,” Hatfield said. “...We put our hearts and souls into it, and it’s just one of those things.”

Vance said he has several potential buyers for the O’Mally’s property, and expects to sell it by the end of the month. Among those interested is a company looking to put in a “top notch steakhouse” into the location, Vance said.