Popular Restaurant In Five Points Neighborhood Closes

DENVER (CBS4) - First Le Central, now Tom's Home Cookin'. Another popular restaurant that has been serving diners for years in the Mile High City is now closed.

In September Le Central closed its doors after 34 years of operations in Denver. Tom's had only been open for 16 years, but that's still quite an impressive run.

Tom's served Southern country-style comfort food at its 26th Avenue location in the Five Points Neighborhood, and CBSDenver.com writers featured them in articles about Denver's top barbecue and fried chicken.

Fans of the restaurant who showed up for lunch on Friday were surprised by the news that eatery was closing. The owners of Tom's placed a sign up in their window that states:

We are excited to tell you that we have sold the restaurant property and Tom's Home Cookin' is closed.
Thank you for your patronage, support and friendship over the past 16 1/2 years.
It's been one hell of a ride!

"I'm totally bummed. This has been here for a while and they had great food," said customer John Rankin. "They served fried chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, that kind of stuff. And if you got here too late they ran out of stuff and it was kind of tough luck.

"They served sweet tea. I'm from the South, and that was always a welcome."

Bridgette Riddick told CBS4 she made multiple weekly trips to the restaurant.

"They gave you a lot to eat," Riddick said. "Everyone was happy and it was fast paced."

"I'm crushed," said Colin Larson, another regular. "The catfish was awesome."

The owners of the restaurant also made the announcement on their Twitter page.

The Denver Post reported that the owners have sold the property to a business that operates other restaurants in the Denver area.