2 restaurants at Foothills Mall closing

Gavi Italian Restaurant, 7401 N. La Cholla Blvd., and El Paso Bar-B-Que Company, 7265 N. La Cholla Blvd., closed Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, at Foothills Mall.

The other three Gavi restaurants and the Broadway El Paso location will remain in business.

The Foothills Mall El Paso opened in September 2007, said general manager Paul Leathers. About 55 to 65 employees were affected, although several will work at the still busy store at 5510 E. Broadway, which opened in September 2000.

Five of the chain’s stores have closed in recent months following the company’s filing for bankruptcy. Besides the Broadway location, El Paso restaurants still operate in Glendale, Scottsdale and Farmington, N.M.

“The way the economic times are, the store up here wasn’t supporting what we needed to do,” Leathers said. “We’re just going to put all of our efforts into Broadway.

“Our honeymoon up here was a shorter honeymoon than anyplace I’ve been,” said Leathers, estimating it lasted three to four months. “BBQ is a niche — you either love it or you don’t.

In the more than 30 years of being in the restaurant business, Leathers called this the toughest time economically.

Owner Gavi Colaleo, 53, said he decided not to renew Gavi’s Foothills Mall lease about a week and a half ago. He said the restaurant’s 20 to 25 employees will be absorbed by his other three restaurants.

“The area has changed somewhat since I opened” 10 years ago, Colaleo said. “There have been an enormous amount of restaurants coming into the area. You get to a point where there’s only so much you can do — everyone’s got 50 choices.”

The original Gavi Italian Restaurant at 7865 E. Broadway opened in May 1992. Colaleo’s other locations are Piazza Gavi, 5415 N. Kolb Road, and Gavi La Taverna, 6960 E. Sunrise Drive.

Regina Harmon is general manager of Feldman Mall Properties, which handles the Foothills Mall and Gavi’s lease. She wasn’t surprised to receive an e-mail Monday from Colaleo’s wife, attorney Natalie Scott, notifying them that Gavi wouldn’t renew its lease.

“I think people are being very cautious with their discretionary income, and I think we’re going to see a lot of changes this year,” said Harmon, noting that another restaurant tenant for the spot already has been secured. She said it will be a national chain and should open in mid-August.

“For the most part, we’re seeing the same thing that anyone else is, which is fewer customers spending less money,” said Harmon, who has been with the company for 12 years. Foothills Mall is “in a better position to compete for some of those discretionary dollars.”

Colaleo has some plans in the works, including possibly moving La Taverna and opening a location in Austin, Texas, later this year.

“I’m always going to be OK,” he said. “I know how to cook, so I can always cook for myself.”