A sign posted on the door of Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill at the beginning of Labor Day weekend announced the restaurant’s closing.

Sometimes referred to as the “Mediterranean Chipotle,” Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill closed its Route 1 location for business last week. 

The restaurant located in the College Park Shopping Center closed at the beginning of Labor Day weekend, according to Michael Stiefvater, city economic development coordinator. 

“To remain open in that center requires stronger sales than other parts of College Park,” Stiefvater wrote in an email.

Stiefvater wrote that there are high rental rates in that retail area because of the “location, surface parking, and strong co-tenants like Chipotle and Starbucks.” Yearly rents downtown can run as high as $50 per square foot, or about $4,166 per month for a 1000-square-foot area, he wrote. 

Byron Myrick, general manager of Noodles & Company, which sits next to Garbanzo’s former location, said his restaurant usually makes about $37,000 to $40,000 net profit each week during the academic year. But that amount goes down as students leave College Park for the summer or winter. 

“[There were] not a lot of customers at Garbanzo … volume was scarce,” Myrick said he observed. “I would imagine that a lot of times when a corporate outlet would close in a location, it’s because it’s not matching the volume for the rest of the restaurants in the market.”

Garbanzo is not the only restaurant that has closed for business in College Park in the past year. Roti Mediterranean Grill closed in early September 2013, and Lime Fresh Mexican Grill closed a few weeks after.

Stiefvater wrote it is not uncommon for restaurants to close when their respective chains struggle to make sales. He wrote there are several chains along the strip that have successful locations.  

“[It’s] shocking. I can’t believe they closed,” said Ryan Gum, a senior information systems major. Gum said he only ate at the College Park location about two or three times, but he enjoyed it enough to miss it.

Juan Sandoval, a sophomore geography major, said he went to Garbanzo about 20 times since living in College Park and wasn’t surprised by the closing. He said the service was OK, but he recalled the business being slow, and some menu items were expensive.

“I did like the place,” he said. “It’s the Mediterranean version of Chipotle.”

Stiefvater wrote that he thinks another dining option might replace Garbanzo’s College Park location eventually because many restaurants like to settle in this particular shopping center. It’s a popular spot for university students, he wrote. 

The manager and representatives from Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill could not be reached for comment.