Owners of a landmark restaurant in downtown Wichita Falls are considering shutting down.
Vicki Karr, whose family has run Casa Manana at 609 Eighth St. for 78 years, blames the problems on a dramatic slow-down in business.
“It’s been pretty thin over here,” Vicki said. “It’s been harder to keep things going than I’ve ever been involved in. People tell me they don’t want to come downtown.”
She said she’s trying to keep the restaurant open for the sake of the family. She married Larry Karr, whose father, Nick Karr, opened the restaurant with other family members in 1947.
“I feel obligated to keep it open for my father-in-law because he worked so hard and was a prisoner of war for four years. He came home, and his brother and dad and him opened it up. I feel like I need to keep that going for them,” Vicki said.
She said she also wants to stay in business because of her employees.
“We survived COVID. We have survived a fire. We have survived everything. I’m trying my best to keep it open because I’ve got people that have been here 30 years. Where are they going to go?” she said.
Vicki said business has slowed so much that Casa Manana has begun closing on Mondays.
“We never closed on Mondays before,” she said.
She said the business has never received much help from downtown support groups like Downtown Wichita Falls Development.
“I’m the stepchild down here. They don’t do anything to promote us or help us out or anything and never have,” she said.
Vicki said a more recent problem is that the owner of a lot across Eighth Street from the restaurant has begun charging for parking, which created an immediate slowdown in business.
Matt Muehlberger’s company owns about 200 parking spaces on six lots downtown. They make up three parking areas.
Muehlberger has said the decision to begin charging for parking is a business one, and he plans to use revenue from paid parking to improve the lots.
Vicki said people tell her because the restaurant has been downtown for so long that it won’t close.
“Well, I have to pay bills, and I have to have business. I’m not open just for my looks,” she said.
Vicki said while the restaurant offers customers beer and wine, it does not have a bar and closes at 7:30 p.m. because she doesn’t want drunks coming in from the downtown bars.
“This is a family restaurant, and I’m keeping it that way,” she said.
Vicki said no date is set for Casa Manana to shut down.
“We’re not immediately going to close, but after a time if you can’t make any money, it’s just like any other business. You’ve got to make money, pay bills and pay your employees and everything,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Landmark downtown Wichita Falls restaurant in danger of closing
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
