LEWISTON – After a year of trying to lure downtown workers out of their offices and into the Legal Eagle for a sandwich, soup or salad, the owners of the Lisbon Street restaurant have decided to call it quits.

“It’s unfortunate, but financially we can’t do it,” said Brian Kendall, who owns the Legal Eagle with his partner Bill Knierim. “There just isn’t enough foot traffic. People working downtown are not going out to lunch … especially when it’s cold.”

Kendall said one frigid day last week he had only six customers. The restaurant, which features homemade lunch and breakfast fare, opened a year ago, hoping to capitalize on the newly renovated district courthouse and the traffic it would generate.

But Kendall said that hasn’t happened. He said he’s received few complaints about his food or the space; he said people simply don’t eat out enough to sustain his business. He plans to close Feb. 27.

“I don’t want to close. Lewiston needs places like this downtown,” he said.

Kendall estimates he sunk $50,000 into the Legal Eagle, getting it set up and operating. He hasn’t drawn a salary since opening and it’s getting tough to cover the bills.

But he hasn’t entirely given up hope. He’s appealed to the city and the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council for help with a creative financing package that would allow him to move the restaurant down Lisbon Street to a new location that also has apartment rentals.

Kendall said if there were another source of revenue – such as apartment rentals – to help cover the cost of operating the restaurant, he would stay downtown.

“I strongly believe in downtowns,” he said, lamenting the recent loss of other downtown businesses such as the Cyberhouse Cafe and Final Harvest discount store.

“The city can give companies such as Oxford Networks and Northeast Bank big tax breaks (to locate downtown), but it’s not doing anything to help the small guy who’s struggling,” he added.

Kendall believes the city has an obligation to help the small businessperson, and to attract new retailers to the downtowns to generate a vitality that sustains all businesses. The key is to help provide financing, such as low-interest loans, and a pool of money for start-up costs, he said.

“It’s so frustrating to see these places come and go,” said Kendall. “It’s time for it to stop.”

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