BATON ROUGE - Customers were shocked to see a "Closed for good" sign on the door of longtime Mid-City staple Roman's Cafe on Thursday afternoon.

In an email to WBRZ, owner Moe Roman explained his reasoning for the closure after 36 years in business. He said it has been a "rough few years" for the safety of his employees, and that his business had been burglarized four times in six months. He also detailed instances of his employees being held up at gunpoint while walking to their cars and car break-ins. 

WBRZ checked the crime statistics for reports of violent crime within a quarter-mile radius of the restaurant, located at 5350 Government Street, within the last six months. The only reports of violence were two simple assaults and a handful of other non-violent crimes including credit card fraud and shoplifting. 

Down the street at Victoria's Toy Station, owner Deedee Culotta says crime is not a problem and certainly not specific to the Mid-City area. Out of 38 years in operation, Culotta couldn't recall any instances of violence in the vicinity of her business. She says Mid-City is an attractive spot for people to live and work, actually.

"I'm sorry to hear that he's moving but there's lots of people that want to come in Mid-City," Culotta said.

As she prepares her toy store for the busiest time of the year, the holiday season, she's also looking forward to White Light Night when hundreds of people will walk Government Street to shop and eat. She is not worried about crime putting a damper on her sales. 

"Government Street is a very busy street and at night, it's very busy with all the restaurants but there is not a crime problem here," Culotta said. 

Roman plans to relocate to a "safer area" but has not decided where.