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The Sizzler restaurant on Washington Boulevard near 12th Street has been closed and will not relocate. Middle Ogden llC, which owns the property did not renew Sizzler's lease.(MITCH SHAW/Standard-Examiner)

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large plants have been pulled up at the now-vacant Sizzler restaurant on Washington Boulevard near 12th Street. Middle Ogden llC, which owns the property did not renew Sizzler's lease. (MITCH SHAW/Standard-Examiner)

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Cars pass the now-vacant Sizzler restaurant at Washington Boulevard and 12th Street on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Middle Ogden llC, which owns the property did not renew Sizzler's lease. (MITCH SHAW/Standard-Examiner)

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Cars are seen passing the now vacant Sizzler restaurant on Washington Boulevard. Middle Ogden, LLC, who owns the property did not renew Sizzler's lease. Thursday, April 25, 2012. (MITCH SHAW/Standard-Examiner)

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OGDEN — A popular, longtime Ogden restaurant is gone and won’t be coming back.

The Sizzler that has been fronting Washington Boulevard immediately south of 12th Street for more than three decades closed its doors a few days ago, and officials with the restaurant chain say there are no plans for a relocation.

“It’s closed, and it’s closed for good,” said Janet Ritter, who works in Sizzler’s Media Relations office. “It won’t be relocated anywhere.”

Ritter said the lease between Sizzler and the restaurant’s landlord has expired and will not be renewed.

Ritter also said she has been told the owner of the land is in the process of signing a lease with Walgreens Pharmacy.

According to plat maps available on the Weber County Recorder’s website, the landowner of the Sizzler lot is Middle Ogden LLC. But until Dec. 31, 2012, the land was owned by Sizzling Platter Inc. and Camden LLC, both under the name of Steven Lowe.

Sizzling Platter is a Murray-based restaurant-management company that runs several area Sizzlers as well as other restaurants, including Red Robin and Little Caesars.

Several attempts to reach Sizzling Platter Vice President of Development Mitchell Lowe by telephone were unsuccessful. So was an attempt to find a representative for Middle Ogden LLC.

Ogden City Chief Administrative Officer Mark Johnson said the Sizzler lot will eventually be redeveloped but couldn’t confirm that a Walgreen’s would replace the vacant restaurant.

Longtime patrons of the restaurant say they are both confused and upset that the restaurant is shutting down for good.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” said Ogden resident Larry Waters. “Anytime you went there, the parking lot was packed. I’ve never seen that place not busy, and I never had a bad meal there.

“It’s a shame a thriving restaurant has basically just disappeared overnight.”

A sign on the door of the vacant Sizzler building encourages patrons to visit the restaurant in Layton, at 1171 N. 400 West.

Ogden resident and longtime Sizzler patron Leilani Miller said it’s unlikely she’ll make the trip to the Layton Sizzler and doubts anyone else will.

“If I happen to be in Layton, I might stop by, but I won’t be going all the way down there just for Sizzler,” she said. “It’s really sad because the Ogden place was always packed, and it was a place where you could get a nice meal for a reasonable price. I guess that’s not the case anymore.”