The owners of the Frontier Restaurant decided Thursday to stop offering 24-hour services.
The restaurant will close its doors from 1 to 5 a.m. every day, co-owner Dorothy Rainosek said.
Rainosek said there were a number of reasons behind the decision.
"Primarily, it is the insurance for 24-hour service, and part of it is the cost for additional security as well as staffing for the late shift," she said.
The Frontier has been open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, since 1991.
The only exception came in October 2006, when the restaurant closed its doors between 1:30 and 4 a.m. for two days after a fight broke out.
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The restaurant went back to its normal hours when Mayor Martin Chavez offered the services of over-time police officers.
For student John Fidel, the change would leave him without a place to hang out with friends or eat in the early morning.
"I asked why, and I was told it was because of fights, but I haven't seen a fight in a really long time," he said.
Rainosek said the restaurant's insurance company prompted the change - not fights.
"They said to cover 24 hours is not cost-effective for them," she said.
Frontier patron Jake Lang said the restaurant is a safe place to eat late at night because of the police presence.
"I'm sure (fights) happen, but I haven't heard of any in a really long time," he said.
Rainosek said the insurance company didn't threaten to drop the restaurant's services, but other factors like staffing contributed to the decision.
She said offering a 24-hour service makes it difficult to find a replacement if someone calls in sick for the late shift.
"It wasn't the spur of the moment," she said. "It is something that has been in the mill for several months. We felt that it would be an easier transition before the students came back to have the change. It is only four hours. It is not for hours and hours."
Rainosek said the decision will not affect the restaurant financially. The restaurant hopes to make up for any lost income by improving the efficiency of its staff, she said.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to do some of the closing that we were not able to do," she said.
Fidel said he will have to look for other places to go.
"I guess there is a 24-hour McDonald's, but that kind of sucks. It is more about the atmosphere here," he said. "You can hang out. You don't have to just go through the drive-through."
Mike Smith, assistant manager at the Pita Pit, said he anticipates more business to come his way with the Frontier changing its hours.
"Basically, last year when the Frontier closed, we had a surge in people coming in," he said. "So, I would be expecting that to happen again."
The Pita Pit, which is open until 3 a.m., does not employ any security personnel, Smith said.
"Even when this happened last year, we didn't have any fights or any brawls," he said. "It is not the type of thing that we have at this establishment."
