Several restaurants have shut up shop and others have considered doing so, as the rebound from a year of road closures and heavy construction has not been as bright as predicted.

And the Thai restaurants which have long been a fixture on Wollongong's "eat street" are dwindling.

Long-time Keira Street favourite Thai Basil Cafe has recently closed for good after 17 years, with owner Phaithoon "Doi" Stenton bidding a fond farewell to regular customers.

She will now concentrate on her Figtree restaurant of the same name.

Ms Stenton said with the drop in business following the construction and road closures, she could not pay the $4500 monthly rent - which she said went up 5.5 per cent each year.

"[The] rent's so high - after the new shopping came, I tried to work seven days a week," she said.

"After the council closed the road, I could not handle the rent.

"I thought with the shopping [centre] coming, I would make a little, then a little more. But after Christmas, not enough."

Ms Stenton said she asked landlord GPT for reduced rent because of the construction but the answer was no.

Eventually she sold her lease "very cheap" and an Indian restaurant is expected to move in.

Across Keira Street, Coconut Thai owner Suban Phutkhunthot said the slowdown in business last year had brought her business to the brink.

The past fortnight has been better, however, and has given her hope that the regular customers are returning.

"It's picking up a little bit, hopefully," she said.

For these restaurateurs, the result of Wollongong Central's expansion has been cruel. They spent last year enduring road closures and constant construction noise as Keira Street was reshaped and the shopping centre was built.

Many had supported the development, believing it would bring more people to the "eat street" precinct. This was meant to be the light at the end of the tunnel.

But Ms Phutkhunthot said the foot traffic was drawn to the shopping centre and its food court, and most people did not venture outside.

"When the [new] building opened, for this side, it's very hard to make money," she said.

"Every owner says it."

Ms Phutkhunthot took over the restaurant last year, after a decade behind the wok burners. The counters are adorned with local awards.

She has introduced student specials, lunch discounts, and is catering for functions.

Further north, Crystal Thai Cuisine has been feeling the effects of a slowdown in business at its end of Keira Street.

It will now close on Tuesdays and owner Damrong "Ron" Sangsrichan said he had considered selling the restaurant because profitability had been touch and go. But regular customers had urged him to stay cooking.

"It's very tough now. Some nights, it's a dead night, some lunch is a dead lunch as well," he said.

"Some people they just walk past to get to the shopping mall. Regular customers keep coming; they say hopefully you will pick up.

"Tea'se Me, I used to go there for breakfast, now it's gone."

Mr Sangsrichan said the competition was extreme, and all he could do was maintain the high quality of his food.

"Once the customer walks around here, they have 30 or 40 options. It's like, who's the lucky one?"

It is not just the new food court that has hit their business - his wife Patcharada said it was hard to compete with $5 pizzas at Domino's - on price, at least.

Other recent casualties include the Gong Tasty House restaurant, which offered cheap meals from a range of Asian cuisines, primarily Chinese, for less than a year before closing. It had followed Bei Feng, a northern Chinese diner popular with students, in that location last year.

The popular Tea'se Me Tea Emporium, across Keira Street from the Illawarra, has also shut its doors for good.

Mia's Coffee and Restaurant, also on Keira Street, was a short-lived burst from Christchurch restaurateurs forced to relocate after the earthquake.

Despite an experienced chef, Mia's mix of coffee and Chinese favourites didn't quite take off, particularly when it opened around the same time as the new Wollongong Central.

It has now closed; the latest in a line of restaurants to have occupied the premises at 155 Keira Street (formerly the Fourways Grill and Seafood).

The restaurant inside the Hotel Illawarra also closed recently.

The closures, and the sight of other venues closing, have taken the sheen off the story of Keira Street, which even during Wollongong's tougher economic times, had managed to surprise observers with the sheer number of customers choosing to dine out.

The Mercury asked shopping centre operator GPT about the effect on Keira Street.

Wollongong Central manager Nathan Yeo said the changes were ultimately good for Wollongong.

"The city is undergoing a positive transformation and that doesn't end with the opening of Wollongong Central," he said.

"Wollongong CBD is undergoing immense change, with ongoing improvements to the city's streetscapes and laneways.

"These changes are fabulous for the people of Wollongong and for the quality of retail and dining options, but they inevitably mean more competition among these businesses."

Competition is always part of the food industry, as is change.

Two or three decades ago, the number of Thai restaurants seemed to signify how a suburb's palate was expanding beyond the usual combination of charcoal chicken, Italian trattorias and Westernised Cantonese fixtures.

Now, the decline in Thai numbers could again be a sign that diners are seeking to be more adventurous - or fashionable.

Wollongong diners may be moving on from Thai and spreading themselves across the fast Mexican, trendy hamburgers and Vietnamese eateries.

House of Thai, on Keira Street, closed last year with the building now occupied by chef Daniel Sherley's restaurant Rookie, which is developing a reputation for high quality food.

It appears the downturn is not shared as severely by every eatery on Keira Street.

Several are still as busy as they were last year - especially those that do not have a direct competitor inside the mall.

Vietnamese restaurants Mylan, Trang and Au Lac are still doing a brisk trade at lunch time.

Kinn Thai, part of a national group, is often busy in Wollongong Central, with diners clearly deciding that its higher prices and smaller dishes are worth it for their quality.

Sifter's cafe on Market Street is hugely popular, and a Lebanese restaurant is believed to be coming to the old halal butchery premises on Victoria Street.

Time will tell whether the established restaurants find a way to see off competition from the newbies.