Jan. 12--GW Fins closed up its Charlotte location today after serving its last meal Saturday night, said general manager Aaron Somerville. The uptown seafood place, the only sibling to a popular New Orleans restaurant, was opened at 525 N. Tryon St. in September 2007 by chef Tenney Flynn and managing partner Gary Wollerman.

"If people had shown as much interest in the restaurant in the past as they did today ... " said Somerville, who noted that the New Orleans original Fins is "thriving."

"It's the economy," he said. "We had what we think is the best product in the city, a beautiful restaurant, great service. It had to just be the economy."

The restaurant had drawn more than 700 reservations for the upcoming Charlotte Restaurant Week, he said, which had to be cancelled.

Bruce Hensley of public relations and marketing firm Hensley Fontana, owner of Charlotte Restaurant Week, heard of the closing today. "Unfortunately, they're dropping like flies," he said of the city's restaurant scene in general. "It's a shame. (Those) reservations, I hope, will go to our other participating restaurants."

That promotion, Jan. 24-30, offers three-course meals for $30 at more than 50 area restaurants. Other restaurants are also offering deals in that time period. In a typically slow season for restaurants, the discounted meal offers are seen as a way of attracting new as well as old customers.

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