Molly McGees is closed, and its 6,400-square-foot building along South Iowa Street is available for sale or for lease.
The restaurant and bar closed Monday, and its contents will remain in place and on site at 2412 Iowa in case a new owner or operator wants to come in and take over, said Dave Boulter, who co-owns the place with Sue and Charles Mee.
"They can walk in and turn the key if they want to," Boulter said.
Boulter said that family issues and responsibilities at his other Lawrence businesses - Henry's and The Crossing - had left him unable to put in the time necessary to see that Molly McGees would succeed. The closure leaves 40 people out of work.
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blue73harley (anonymous) says…
Molly's went down hill ever since they moved to their new location. The menu was down to two pages the last time that we ate there.
namzti (anonymous) says…
It seems to me nothing has lasted in that building.
Centrist (anonymous) says…
Yeah ... remember "Mexi-Kans"?
We used to call it "Mexi-Can't"
Wassup with that building?
I'd like to see a Texas Roadhouse go in there - they'd do well!
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
Or Hooters!
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
And to keep a local flavor it would be renamed Molly McGee's Hooters.
Horace (anonymous) says…
Hooters
Bassetlover (anonymous) says…
Texas Roadhouse would be excellent!!!!! But doubt their head office would okay that location due to limited parking. That chain tends to pull in huge crowds and they are certainly more affordable than Longhorn. How about a Fazoli's? Terrific food, great prices, and even a drive-thru!
Bubbles (anonymous) says…
Put the library there.
unite2revolt (anonymous) says…
Guess that means one less business bringing in local tax dollars and 40 more people collecting unemployment, looks like this recession is going to turn around real soon. Good thing we are doing everything we can to balance the city bdget since next year we are going to have to have a huge freaking deficit anyway. Wonder if it has anything to do with the smoking ban, or maybe the chains are just driving the locals out of business. I do admire the owner for squarely taking the blame for the business closing on his own chin. Hopefully his bars will remain profitable.
justthefacts (anonymous) says…
RIP Molly's. I was worried this would happen when they moved over to that ill-fated site. I have a lot of good memories from 1995-1997, from hanging out a lot at the old location. Shannon did the best job of managing it and the staff back then was like family. I guess it's true; Everthing changes and you can never really go back home.
unite2revolt (anonymous) says…
posessionannex--
Sure its whats going on in the local economy, rising prices (gas, utilities, food, etc) coupled with increasing unemployment, and decreasing corporate profits, resulting in a decreasing tax revenue, creating higher taxes or decreased public services (depending on Dems vs Reps in office), resulting in additional unemployment. Or for a more textbook definition its two or more more consecutive fiscal quarters of no real economic growth. Maybe you haven't noticed yet but it is happening.
craigers (anonymous) says…
OH my, Texas Roadhouse would be awesome. If there were a Zios and a Chick-Filet, I would have no food places drawing me out of town. Come on Texas Roadhouse. Peanut shells have been on that floor before. (Barb Wires)
Ragingbear (anonymous) says…
I am sure that Molly's back yard being part of the worst area of town had nothing to do with this...
Andini (anonymous) says…
Maybe Wal-Mart will build a store there as well. :-)
Andini (anonymous) says…
Why does the sign in front read:
New Management
New Menu
New Hours
???
Ghost78 (anonymous) says…
RIP to the Frisbee sandwich, the Wheelbarrow cheese fries, and the Dumptruck sundae
RKLOG (Mark Andrew) says…
RIP. Good memories.
armyguy (anonymous) says…
Sad to see my favorite restaurant close. They had the best Mac and Cheese ever, great burgers and a wagon full of cheese fries. A great place to watch KU games also. Hope somebody else picks it up and continues the tradition.
shirinisb (anonymous) says…
Good, that place was disgusting. The one time I ate there everyone at my table was served raw burgers (when they ordered them medium-well) and the service was horrible.
Now the owners can focus on more important things, like serving minors alcohol at the crossing.
Ragingbear (anonymous) says…
Leave it to some guy in the Army to go out to eat and order Mac & Cheese...
consumer1 (anonymous) says…
USD 497 should buy the building and use it for "storage" and then claim they don't have any money for teaching students. Oh and by the way, they should pay twice the asking price. (just to make sure).
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
consumer1- nah, rather than storage, I think we could use another "virtual" school building.
devilsrighthandman (anonymous) says…
We need a real sea food joint in this town. A Red Lobster!!!
consumer1 (anonymous) says…
Devils.
Red Lobster won't come to Lawrence, i don't remember the details, but I think it was the Progressives in city hall, The last commisioners (3 amigos) who put the Keibosh on them wanting to come to Lawrence. Something about tax incentives, I think?
StirrrThePot (anonymous) says…
This is really too bad. This brings Lawrence closer to to being chain-haven like everywhere else. Local flavor is dying. I don't want another chain here! The food is terrible and there is nothing unique about it.
dorothyhr (Dorothy Hoyt-Reed) says…
There burgers used to be the best in town. They should have stayed where they were originally. That building has bad karma for restaurants.
Confrontation (anonymous) says…
There does seem to be a curse on some business locations. Look at the location of the former Ruchi Indian Cuisine, 3300 Bob Billings Pkwy. I think the main problem is the lack of parking on that side of the strip mall. From what I can remember, before Ruchi came, there was Skeeters Bar & Grill. Remember the owner whose daddy bought her a business? She was quoted on Lawrence.com as saying, "Everyone thought the location was bad, but I think it'll take off." Yeah, she should have listened. I also remember Lou Zeana's Bayou Grill and The Brass Apple in that same location within the last seven years. There may be others that I'm missing.
LittleMissFlea (anonymous) says…
Jupiter Cafe was at that 15th and Kasold location when I first moved here. And I'm with the bulk of people here, that when Molly McGee's moved into that cursed building, all you wanted to do was curse the service.
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
Confrontation - how about the concrete pad that was Mazzios? Restaurants in the Malls shopping center don't last long either. I remember Godfathers, Bum Steer and some Mexican eatery were there at one time or another. And that A-framed building near the Malls entrance and Dunkin Donuts has had a half dozen different tenants.
Confrontation (anonymous) says…
I don't remember Mazzios. I think there also may have been another restaurant right before Ruchi. The location at Louisiana and 23rd, which now holds the Scarlet Orchid, has also seen its share of new restaurants. I've only lived here since 2000, and in the area since 1996, so my historical knowledge of these sites is all based on that.
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
Mazzios was at 27th and Iowa across from Runza. It sat vacant for years before they 'dozed it.
Ragingbear (anonymous) says…
We are a college town. Why don't we have a Denny's? Actually, we need two. That way we will have a crappy one and a decent one.
acg (anonymous) says…
That mazzio's had pretty decent pizza. I don't think that spot was "cursed" so much as way overpriced. My aunt put in a bid to buy that building and parcel in 1990 and they wanted $1.2 million for it. WTF? Needless to say, she didn't buy it. That's prime real estate and all, but that's a ridiculous price, esp. 17 years ago.
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
Does
Pretentious
Cow
need
another
location
so
it
can
go
out
of
business
again
?
Thanks
,
snap
"Fair Use"
FatTony (anonymous) says…
Soup kitchen / homeless shelter
johnadavies (anonymous) says…
This town has been chewing up and spitting out restaurants since before I moved here in 1976 and it isn't just that location. I was surprised to hear that someone had made it a point to buy up the Subway's in town because they were in a college town and hence "recession proof!" What kind of fool told him that?
blackwalnut (anonymous) says…
I guess I'm not the one who absolutely despises going on South Iowa. Horrible atmosphere, annoying traffic and difficult access, you sometimes have to go a whole block out of your way to get in or out of a parking lot. Completely uncivilized. I don't even go to the stores I like, like Pier I and ALDI. I actually find myself doing without because I despise going there so much, and put off purchases endlessly until finally the need has expired.
Whoever made south Iowa in Lawrence ought to be ashamed of it, and the city should at all costs avoid making another scene like that anywhere else in town.
Kontum1972 (anonymous) says…
the miltiary is looking for bodies?
blackwalnut (anonymous) says…
johnadavies (Anonymous) says:I was surprised to hear that someone had made it a point to buy up the Subway's in town because they were in a college town and hence "recession proof!" What kind of fool told him that?
I heard whoever owns the Subways now owns well over 200 of them. I also heard it's no longer a great place to work.
Much better to work for the owner. Ask the folks who works at Wheatfields and Free State Brewery.
lunacydetector (anonymous) says…
the percentage of people who don't shop on south iowa is the same percentage of people who ride bicycles regularly - about 1/2 of 1% of the population.
wonder what a cost to benefit study would say about all the super wide bike paths in town?
Iluvswissalps (anonymous) says…
Molly McGee's Closing: What took them so long! The food went way down hill once they moved from the old place. The service was lousy and the place was filthy. No matter what time we got there to eat we were always placed by the door to the kitchen and it stunk and was so dirty that we got up and left.
Wilbur_Nether (anonymous) says…
The restaurant business is extremely competitive. I understand (although I cannot support with evidence) that restaurants close within 36 months of opening, on average. If this is true, Lawrence doesn't really seem to chew through them faster than any other community.
Wilbur_Nether (anonymous) says…
Fazoli's, Chuck E. Cheese, Denny's, Texas Road House, Chick-a-Filet, Zios, Red Lobster...a road map to mediocrity. I can feel my taste buds dying even now.
acg (anonymous) says…
Red lobster cheesy garlic biscuits are like crack. The rest of their menu I could take or leave. Fazoli's has great bread sticks, too. The rest of their stuff is crap. Man, I'm on a low carb diet, can ya'll tell? I soooo want some bread!!
sourpuss (anonymous) says…
Okay, I didn't really like Molly McGees. Bad service, worse food. I agree, it took forever and was not prepared properly. Went once, never again. However, that was in the "new" location.
I think that building should just be bulldozed. It worked -okay- as a steakhouse, but even then it just doesn't flow well, it is stuffy, you feel isolated in there... it is not a good atmosphere. If they don't bulldoze it, whoever moves in there needs to do a complete renovation, inside and out, but especially inside. Open it up, lighten it up. Even in a steakhouse, I don't need to feel like I am eating in a barn. It is cursed because it is a terrible place to have a meal in.
I also agree that we need a real seafood restaurant in town (NOT a Red Lobster). Yes, yes, Kansas is no place for seafood, and I know the corn0fed, beef-eatin' types wouldn't step foot in one, but if you offered some Kansas fare in addition to some excellend seafood, I think that could do well (and don't yuppie it all up with piquante cilantro dip, cous-cous battered jalepeno cheese fries or any nonsense like that! I don't need to play "avoid the avacado" when perusing a menu!)
youknewit (anonymous) says…
I think it's funny: you can really tell who has and has not worked in a restaurant before, based upon what they've written. I bet I've served the guy who wrote, "terrible service," and you know what (?), I did bad things to your food!
By the way, locally owned restaurants are not always good for the worker. So those of you who are chirping about locally owned this, locally owned that, go talk to someone who has actually worked in a restaurant where management is forced to keep you two hours shy of full-time, with no benefits and no hope for promotion.
And for the individual who wrote about these workers "collecting unemployment": please don't talk about service workers like they are all a bunch of lazy slobs who are looking forward to collecting unemployment. I bet every one of those people would take their jobs back in a second.
I'm not saying I'm a big fan of Red Lobster or Longhorn Steakhouse. I am asking people who read this to think about the ex-employees of this establishment. It really isn't their fault they didn't have a job to go to on Tuesday; therefore, you shouldn't slander them based-off of one of your isolated dining experiences.
I for one had great experiences at this establishment. The service was good, and the burgers were the best in town.
aquakej (anonymous) says…
Yup, I hate to say it, but I'm not sorry to see this place go. The food was never that good, and the last time I went there, I ordered my burger medium-well and it was bleeding. They gave me the wrong kind of cheese, and my fries were old and soggy. That, combined with the fact that they took forever to get our food out made me not want to go back.
lee_go_hawks (anonymous) says…
I'm two days behind but posting anyway.
We used to frequent the old location reguarly. Pretty good food. Good atmosphere.
Went to the new location twice. Poor food. Poor service. Never went back. That's why they're closed. The business was mismanaged and poorly run. Nothing to do with a recession. Locally owned or national chain has nothing to do with how well a place is managed, or the quality of the food or service.
familyman (anonymous) says…
Good bye to another horrible establishment that had horrible service and just as bad food. Please don't think that it is hard to scew up a burger they managed to. Whats up on a family place to eat other than Montanta Mikes and Perkins who are lack luster in everything they do the waiters call you guys no matter what. Is the only place in town with good food and on top of it waits staff is Free State Brewery.
Wilbur_Nether (anonymous) says…
Sigh.
Are we through on this topic yet?