Drinkers could be forgiven for crying into their beer on March 31, when Hamilton bar MR Onions calls time after 23 years.

Phil and Lori Talbot have decided to call it a day after running the restaurant and sports bar on Par-la-Ville Road for the past 12 years.

The couple decided not to take up the option of a two-year extension on the lease of their first-floor premises at Atlantic House. Efforts to sell the business as a going concern met with some interest, but no-one was prepared to commit.

So an era that started 23 years ago, when previous owner Brian Hetzel christened the bar MR Onions (?MR? referring to an old Bermuda slang greeting), will end. Before that, it was known as the Atlantic Oyster House.

Now regulars have just five weeks to enjoy the popular joint, including a grand closing party on Saturday, March 31.

?Every bottle that?s been opened will have to be drunk,? Mrs. Talbot said. ?I hope people will have a fun time and do a lot of reminiscing. It won?t be a night to be sad.

?The best thing about our timer here has been the clients. The guys from CCS and across the road and the football team, especially. We?re not a posh bar, we welcome everybody. And we?ve made a lot of friends over the years.?

Atlantic House, which MR Onions shares with real estate agents Coldwell Banker Bermuda Realty is earmarked for development as an office building, so the bar?s days in its present location were already numbered. But a combination of factors made up the Talbots? minds to turn down their landlord?s offer of another two years.

The ban on smoking in bars, which came in last year, was the final blow.

?Over the years, it?s become harder and harder to stay in business,? Mrs. Talbot said. ?We?ve had the challenges of rising payroll tax and health insurance costs, and rising rent for the lease. When the gaming machine ban came in, it cost us a lot of income.

?The smoking ban has cost us about 85 percent of our bar trade. The only way for customers to have a smoke was to go downstairs. And once they?d gone out, they often went on to somewhere else.?

MR Onions employs 15 full-time staff and usually around four part-timers as well.

?For our first eight or nine years here, we prided ourselves on having a mainly Bermudian staff,? Mrs. Talbot said. ?In the past few years, we have had to take on foreign staff because not enough locals want to do it any more.

?It?s also more difficult to get staff who really understand customer service.?

Balancing family life with running a business that is open nights and weekends has also been a challenge for the couple.

?Even when you have a day off, the business is always on your mind,? Mr. Talbot said. ?It will be strange not running the business any more.

?Having a social life outside work has been difficult. But MR Onions has been our social life.?

Mrs. Talbot said she had concerns about the escalating cost of doing business on the Island.

?It saddens me, as a Bermudian, that it?s getting harder and harder for people who don?t come from money to make a go of a business,? she said. ?Big business is making it harder for the little guys to follow their dreams.?

As for the future, the Talbots intend to take a little time out to ponder their options and have a well-earned break, before looking for new jobs.