But Taylorsville officials say the entrepreneurs played their hand wrong and accused the cafe of being a front for a gambling establishment. In February, the city won an order from an administrative law judge revoking Hot Spot's business license.

Last week, the cafe closed. A lawsuit seeking to reverse the license revocation is working its way through the justice system, but a 3rd District Court judge rejected a request to allow the business to continue operating in the meantime.

An attorney representing the Hot Spot did not return phone calls seeking comment. An employee reached at the store last week declined comment on behalf of the owner.

Utah Department of Commerce records list the manager and registered agent for the business as John C. Martin.

A note on the door at the cafe, 2594 W. 4700 South, apologized for any inconvenience.

"Computer crashed so we closed," the note reads. "We will reopen as soon as back up."

But Mayor Russ Wall says he is confident the court will side with Taylorsville in the lawsuit over the license revocation.

He said the city received complaints about Hot Spot from customers whom he assumes lost money. In addition, the mayor blamed problems with vandalism and other offenses in the parking lot on people attracted to the strip mall by Hot Spot.

The operators of Hot Spot, which opened in early 2007, said in their business license application they would be providing beverages and Internet services, including WiFi.

But attorneys for Taylorsville say Hot Spot never provided a wireless connection and charged nearly twice the average amount assessed by other businesses in the area for Internet time - $6 an hour versus $3.50 an hour.

The higher amount, the city claimed, was really to pay for the 100 sweepstakes entries that came with each 10-minute block of time purchased.

On Feb. 28, Administrative Law Judge J. Scott Lundberg rejected the cafe's contention that the sweepstakes was merely for promotional purposes. He concluded the contest was an integral part of Hot Spot's business and constituted a lottery, which is illegal under Utah law.

Hot Spot then filed the appeal in 3rd District Court to overturn the revocation.

The closure was a surprise to Hot Spot's customers. In about an hour one day last week, about a dozen people arrived to find the doors locked.

Richard Faust of Murray, who works near the strip mall, said he stops by about three times a month.

"I liked it," he said. "You come here, chat with people and go online."

Other customers said they also patronized the business to check their messages and play games on the computer. The cafe was particularly popular among retirees, who liked to socialize there, they said.

"I've seen a lot of older people there playing computer games," said Diane Estrada.

Adnan Jasim, whose JM's Smoke Shop is a few doors down from Hot Spot, said the Internet cafe helped boost his sales by bringing people to the mall.

"I never had a problem with those people," he said.

But Monica Krueger, who lives in the neighborhood, said she would stop at the cafe only during the day.

"It was nice during the day but different at night," she said, adding that people often loitered nearby.

pmanson@sltrib.com

How the sweepstakes worked

According to court documents, the Hot Spot Internet Cafe sold 10-minute blocks of time on its computers and provided the buyer with an access card. Each block came with 100 sweepstakes entries.

The customer could "reveal" the sweepstakes results with the access card either on one of Hot Spot's four computers or on one of 30 "revealers" that did not have Internet access. When the revealer method was used, the customer could select one of several game themes to show the contents of their entries.

Hot Spot gave money or prizes to customers with winning entries.

Sweepstakes entries could be obtained without a purchase by requesting them in person or by mail. However, those entries were limited to 100 per month per person.

Taylorsville officials said the game amounted to gambling and that few, if any, customers used Hot Spot's Internet-connected computers.