Very abruptly on Thursday, Ryan’s restaurant was shuttered for good.

On Friday morning, no one was at the 15370 U.S. 19 South business. The parking lot was empty and bare.

A sign on the door said the restaurant was permanently closed, apologized for any inconvenience and expressed appreciation for customers’ patronage.

Eagan, Minn.-based Buffets Inc., parent company of Ryan’s, Old Country Buffet, Hometown Buffet and Fire Mountain restaurants, filed bankruptcy Wednesday for reorganization under Chapter 11.

The company closed 83 “underperforming” restaurants nationwide, said Nathan Riggs, Buffets spokesman in New York City.

The Thomasville business is among seven Ryan’s restaurants closed in Georgia.

“They weren’t performing well enough to justify us maintaining them open,” Riggs told the Times-Enterprise Friday.

A Ryan’s restaurant averages 10 to 20 full-time employees and 25 to 35 part time.

A transition program for employees losing their jobs includes severance pay and opportunities to apply for jobs at other Buffets restaurants.

Realty Income Corp. in Escondido, Calif., is the landlord/owner of the Thomasville Ryan’s property.

Buffets underwent a bankruptcy restructuring in 2009, but has not been able to close a number of restaurants because of lease restrictions, Riggs explained.

The company was left with restaurants that were “dragging on us,” Riggs said.

The lagging economy that has affected so many other U.S. businesses also took a toll on Buffets’ restaurants, he added.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820.