LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The North End Cafe will close its Highlands location at 2116 Bardstown Road, as well the adjacent North End Slice pizza restaurant, on Feb. 24.
The original North End Cafe at 1722 Frankfort Avenue in Clifton will remain open.
Michaelle Warner, a spokeswoman for the restaurants' owners, said they were "stretched a little thin" operating two locations during the last seven years.
"It’s hard when you have a small business to be at both places and do your best at both places," she said.
Warner added that the decision was well-timed because the restaurant's chef will take over the space with his own concept.
Warner said the closure has nothing to do with the the federal government's allegations that the North End owners failed to pay more than $130,000 in overtime to employees during a nearly three-year period.
The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit in November to recover the unpaid wages, plus penalties.
The case concerns whether the Highlands and Clifton restaurants -- which are operated through separate companies owned by the same partners, Christopher S. Seckman, Walton H. Jones and Whitney F. Jones -- amount to a single employer for overtime purposes.
North End Cafe's position is that the two restaurants are distinct.
The lawsuit is still in the opening stages. A judge has not yet entered a schedule for how the case will proceed.
North End Cafe started on Frankfort Avenue in 2003, while the Highlands location was added in 2012, according to its website.
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