The McDonald’s restaurant inside CityPlace II at 151 Asylum St. in downtown Hartford was shut down Monday.
Inside, a three-man team could be seen dismantling cash registers and other equipment of the streetfront eatery.
A computer-printed door sign on the Asylum Street entryway to the restaurant urged patrons to visit the nearest McDonald’s two miles away at 1303 Albany Ave.
But the nearest McDonald’s to downtown is just 3/4 of a mile away, at 170-176 Washington Ave., according to the store locator on McDonald’s Web site.
McDonald’s, based in Oak Brook, Ill., did not immediately respond to comment.
McDonald’s is the latest victim of a downtown restaurant market shaken by the economy that has cut employment and forced consumers to get tighter with their dining dollars.
In recent months, Dulce, a restaurant that anchored the Trumbull On The Park luxury apartments on Trumbull Street, has closed. A new restaurant, Salute, is preparing to open soon in its place.
The downtown McDonald’s also was surrounded by a number of fast-food and food-to-go establishments, including Max Bibo’s, Quiznos, Subway, Woody’s and newcomer Moe’s Southwest Grill.
