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Hendersonville Moose Cafe closes

Moose Cafe closed on July 21.

Moose Café,a popular brand for country breakfast and Southern cooking, has found what many restaurants before it have learned: A corner spot in the sprawling Wal-Mart shopping center is a tough location.

Obsured by the Wal-Mart gas station, the space in the southeastern corner now has an empty parking lot and the need, again, for a new tenant.

Originally built in 2002 as a Lizard’s Thicket family style restaurant, the building has housed a seafood restaurant, Greek restaurant and several other eateries. The Moose Cafe opened in 2014.

Owned by JCC Rental Properties LLC of Homestead, Fla., the 1.75-acre parcel and 6,300-square-foot building are assessed on the tax roll at $1.4 million.

"I found out that it closed," said Bill Walker, owner of the Moose Cafe at the WNC Farmers Market in Asheville, which is not connected to the Hendersonville location. "It was individually owned by a guy who owned a hotel over there and had a franchise agreement with the Moose Cafe in Greensboro. Usually when a restaurant closes it's not doing very well."

He said he had not heard much from diners about the closing.

"I don't think they had that many customers to make comments," he said. "It doesn't surprise me because we had heard it wasn't that busy."

A commenter on TripAdvisor.com reported that the Southern food restaurant closed for good on July 20.

"On Thursday, July 20, 2017 my wife & I drove to this cafe since their telephone answering process left us 'wondering' about our need to make a reservation for a group breakfast for Friday, July 21. We found a handwritten sign posted on the front door 'Closing at 1:00 p.m.'

"We drove back to the cafe on Friday July 21 and asked of two folks at the rear service entrance about the status of the cafe. We were told it had closed, permanently, '... yesterday.'

There is still a hand-written sign on the door, except now it says "Closed at 1 p.m."

Outside, signs of the restaurant had already vanished. Removing the Moose Cafe sign revealed the name of the last occupant before Moose: the Mad Greek Eatery.

The Moose cafe phone was unable to take messages. The mailbox was full.