BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Four months ago today, on Cinco de Mayo, The III Amigos opened at the Louisiana Boardwalk.

The restaurant hoped to bring Mexican cuisine, live music, and entertainment- with a mechanical bull, to the outdoor mall.

However, it has now permanently shut down.

“Stores come and go, people just get used to it. You know they focus on one thing closing, and suddenly you’re just going downhill,” said Ashley Warner, general manager of the Louisiana Boardwalk.

According to Warner, the Boardwalk was built in 2005 with help from the Bossier City government to bring an economic impact to the city.

“A lot of our riverfront restaurants have been here since the beginning, Saltgrass, Hooters, Joe’s Crab Shop, and do really well. They all have hour, hour and a half waits on the weekends. They have great lunch specials, we get a big lunch crowd here,” said Warner.

Store managers said that the recent closing did not have much of an impact on the Boardwalk because they seemed to have “left overnight.”

“With III Amigos closing, it didn’t really affect us that much. They didn’t really bring too much business down here, in my personal opinion. We’ve been doing fine, so. It has been a pretty slow year for us, but we’ve still been pretty fine,” said Jennifer Brewer, General Manager of the Chocolate Crocodile.

One major hit to the Boardwalk, however, was the closing of national retailers.

About seven to eight “big name” stores closed during the pandemic, including the Nike outlet store, which brought in a lot of foot traffic.

There are still stores and businesses like the movie theater, Bass Pro Shop, Coldstone, and Hooters, but many people feel that the mall is empty.

“They should bring more like family entertainment and something for kids and maybe even seating areas that’s covered since it is so hot outside in Louisiana,” said Brewer.

Warner says that the Boardwalk has new things like the Spirit Halloween and Portobello Road South, a marketplace with over 100 vendors and handmade items.

She cannot say just yet, but a new restaurant is already in the work as well as holiday markets and outdoor events when the weather cools down.