South-side staple Carlos O'Kelly's closes

South-side Mexican restaurant Carlos O'Kelly's closed this week after operating about 20 years in Springfield.

Workers are clearing out the 4100 S. Campbell Ave. eatery that closed its doors to customers March 10, said Dave Phillips, a spokesman for the Kansas-based restaurant chain.

The Springfield restaurant was one of 17 corporate-owned stores in the Midwest - including another Missouri store in St. Joseph - to be shut down Monday, as the company restructures as part of its five-year plan, he said.

"We had to evaluate where our current leases would allow us to invest the money," Phillips said. "The unfortunate truth for Springfield is we could not make those numbers work."

The Springfield restaurant employed 30 full- and part-time employees, Phillips said, noting the managers were offered full severance and hourly workers received a week's severance pay.

Carlos O'Kelly's opened its Springfield restaurant in the mid-1990s. The company continues to operate 22 restaurants, primarily in Kansas and Iowa, he said.

The South Campbell Avenue building is owned by Net Lease Funding 2005 LP/U.S. Restaurant Properties Inc. The roughly 2-acre property has a 2013 appraised value of $1.3 million, according to the Greene County assessor's website.[[In-content Ad]]