BOULDER -- One sign on the door of Dolan’s Restaurant in Boulder says it is closed for business and thanks customers for “a great 15 years.”

Another signed says “seized” and reveals that the state Department of Revenue has taken over the building because of $17,880.08 in unpaid sales and wage taxes.

In the last two weeks, at least six of Boulder’s 295 restaurants have closed their doors, for reasons unrelated to taxes, including Burnt Toast, the b.side Lounge and Bimbamboo.

Restaurant Consultant John Imbergamo said struggling restaurants often wait until after New Year’s to close, so they can use the extra money made during the holidays to help shut down.

Even with the closures, he predicts a better year in 2010. | ”There’s no such thing as a recession in terms of restaurants unless you see a restaurant close and something not spring up immediately in its place,” said Imbergamo.

The latest Boulder city records show restaurant sales tax revenues dropped almost four percent in the first ten months of 2009.

Even successful Boulder restaurants have felt the pinch.

Lachlan Patterson, the chef and partner of internationally acclaimed Frasca Food and Wine, blamed a combination of the economic crunch and Boulder’s big city rents.

“They pay less in the marina district [in San Francisco] with hundreds of thousands of people around them than we do in Boulder with the entire community of 90,000 people. It’s pretty astonishing,” said Patterson.

Still, he said, restaurants offering something different can survive.

Spaces don’t stay empty long, either.

Some of the recently closed restaurants have signs posted saying they’ll be opening again soon.

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