Bird Rock Bully’s, Boll Weevil close

Two restaurants, one a La Jolla institution, and the other a part of a high-profile, countywide hamburger chain, have closed their doors for good in Bird Rock.

The last day for business at Bully’s at 5755 La Jolla Blvd. was Dec. 10.

Boll Weevil, which had a restaurant in the Village years ago and reopened at 5721 La Jolla Blvd. on Aug. 1, 2008, was one of six company-owned, family-operated Boll Weevil’s to close last week after filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Four other Boll Weevils owned by independent franchisees, including one in Clairemont Mesa, remain open.

Beverly Yuhause-Becker, who, along with husband Charles T. Becker owned the Bully’s in La Jolla for nearly 42 years, said the decision to close it down was “like having cancer and deciding whether or not you’re going to take chemotherapy.”

She said the declining economy, and, in the end, disruption caused by construction when Bird Rock’s last three roundabout traffic circles were put in earlier this year, forced the closure.

“La Jolla doesn’t have a lot of foot traffic, so we depended a lot on our night business,” she said. “When all of that (roundabout construction) was going on it was so difficult because there wasn’t a place to park and we just had a very difficult time. It was very devastating.”

Yuhause-Becker noted Bully’s Del Mar at 1404 Camino Del Mar remains open and she hopes some of her former La Jolla patrons will travel the extra distance and visit them up there.