Closed means closed after a Manteca restaurant owner was convicted of tax evasion in San Joaquin County Superior Court early in May.

The restaurant on South Main Street – formerly Denny’s and more recently the Manteca Diner – is closed, according to signs on its front doors.  The restaurant is in the Walmart Shopping Center near the Highway 120 Bypass.

Larger signs atop the building have been removed. The doors are locked tight. The windows are covered with paper to prevent the public from peering inside.

Reports indicate that a children’s meal was served raw and parents photographed the dinner that their child was about to eat.  More than 30 part-time employees have reportedly complained that they have not received their pay for weeks from owner Abdul Halim, 75,  who lives in Tracy. Vendors have complained they are owed thousands for their services.

Hamil was convicted of two felony and one misdemeanor counts of tax evasion in May related to two other restaurants he owned in Lathrop and Stockton. He was placed on 10 years of formal probation.  He has reportedly paid more than $800,000 to the state for past sales tax obligations.  His conviction requires more than 3,500 hours of community service.

State investigators had reportedly found that he failed to report and pay nearly $525,000 in sales tax collected from his customers between 2007 and 2011. 

One hostess who has worked there for the past two years said the owner locked the doors on Sunday without notifying any of his employees of his decision.  Longtime employees reported for work on Monday morning with no idea the doors would be locked, she added

A former patron of the restaurant said Wednesday that when the eatery transitioned from Denny’s to the Manteca Diner in January, the food went from bad to worse, adding he was not surprised it had been closed down.

The non-payment of a sanitizing system operation at the restaurant reportedly caused the vendor to shut down the service – a must for any restaurant to avoid censure by the county health department.