CHAPEL HILL -- Everything goes. The commercial meat grinder, the decorative deer antlers, the 22 bottles of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, the basketball signed by the 1989-90 Carolina men's team.

The entire inventory of the Ramshead Rathskeller is being auctioned by the state Department of Revenue to pay back taxes.

The below-ground restaurant, a fixture of East Franklin Street's Amber Alley since 1946, closed last month. The restaurant failed to pay taxes for 2007, according to Orange County tax records.

"An auction is the last resort," said C.J. Raines, a levy program supervisor with the Department of Revenue. A levy is a legal seizure of property to satisfy a tax debt. Business owners are notified several times by mail and in person before their property is levied, Raines said. Owners are then normally given options for short-term payment plans. If they still don't pay, equipment and other items inside the business may be auctioned off.

Only about 5 percent of businesses levied by the Department of Revenue end up going to auction, Raines said.

Liz Parham, executive director of The Downtown Partnership, has heard the Rathskeller's glory days compared to the current popularity of Top of the Hill.

"It did play a real vital role for so many people," she said. "It was their place."

But as dining options have expanded -- there are 81 restaurants in downtown Chapel Hill -- older establishments like the Rathskeller, beloved for its ultra-cheesy lasagna and cheap pitchers of beer, have had to work hard to keep up with the competition, Parham said.

A post on the Rathskeller's Web site, www.carolinarat.com, says a former manager "forgot" to pay withholding taxes for 18 months and that the business was working to remedy the situation.

The Department of Revenue has had a number of inquiries about the auction, said Beth Corser, the levy officer in charge of the case. Classic Auctions of Locust, N.C., is handling the event -- a complete inventory of items to be auctioned is available at www.classicauctions.com. The auctioneer in charge of the event, Tony Furr, would not talk about the auction or how much money it might raise.

Items to be auctioned include food, alcohol, decorations, seating and lighting.

"Basically anything that's not attached to the building," Corser said.

Jack Steelman, a commercial real estate broker, remembers hanging out at the "Rat" when he would come visit his older sister at UNC in the 1960s and '70s. They'd descend into the dim basement space to start their evenings with a pitcher of beer and some cheap, hearty bar food.

"It was dark and dingy and jovial," he said. "It was home."