Country Life, a vegetarian restaurant in downtown Chattanooga, is considering closing its doors after more than 40 years.

“We had a clientele of 130 to 140 people for lunch. Between January and March, numbers dropped to 70 to 90 people,” said Richard Espinal, chef at Country Life, at 809 Market St.

Too many changes in management and a tightening economy may have prompted the drop in lunch business, he said.

“When the financial market started messing up nationally, I think it’s been affecting all of us,” he said. “Maybe people are holding onto their wallets more.”

Food costs have increased, and the restaurant raised its prices about 10 cents earlier this year.

Wilbur Atwood, president of the nonprofit Wildwood Sanitarium Inc., which operates the restaurant, said he and other Wildwood officials considered closing the restaurant in July but reconsidered after several phone calls and e-mails from customers.

Customer Geraldyne North, who was eating at Country Life last week, said she enjoys the restaurant’s natural food.

“I haven’t eaten red meat in 30 years,” she said. “I don’t like the saturated animal fat you may get at other places.”

Roger Wright, owner of Fudgewrights, a downtown fudge shop, said he isn’t a vegetarian but comes to Country Life about once a week.

Since opening on Ringgold Road in 1962, Country Life has operated a restaurant in the city, according to Chattanooga Times Free Press archives. Starting as a deli, the restaurant moved to a new location on Ringgold Road in the 1980s and relocated to downtown in 2004.

Wildwood Sanitarium also runs Wildwood Lifestyle Center and Hospital, a natural remedy-based health center, and the College of Health Evangelism in Wildwood, Ga

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