NBC 7’s Dave Summers spoke with the restaurant’s president about the struggles leading to the change.
Lolita's Mexican restaurant, an East Village staple popular with San Diego Padres fans filling their stomachs before and after games at Petco Park, is closing the doors for good at its downtown location.
Sept. 24 will be the last day of business at Lolita's on Park Boulevard and Tenth Avenue. The day will mark a near-15-year run for the restaurant downtown.
The side effects of the pandemic were catastrophic to many small businesses, especially those in the restaurant industry.
"To sit here and not mention COVID would not be correct," said Dolores Jackson, president of Lolita’s Mexican Food.
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Post-pandemic, staffing issues kept the downtown location from rebounding as strong as everyone had hoped.
"If we have a 10-day homestand, they’re there 10 days straight because we don’t have any other individuals who want to work or are looking for work," Jackson said.
Safety concerns amid the ongoing homelessness crisis and its impact on East Village made it harder for Jackson to try and weather the storm.
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“The most important thing is to keep our staff safe," she said. "Regarding the issues down there, they are really big and it is going to take a lot to clean up the area."
Lolita’s is a family business with five locations across Chula Vista, East Lake, Bonita and Kearny Mesa.
Jackson said the family will miss the excitement of being a part of the Padres experience, meeting the fans and making a few of their own. Here is what one longtime customer says she’ll miss about lolita’s.
"Ah, the food is fresh," long-time customer Marjorie Chou said describing what she'll miss most.
Chou and her husband live downtown and they aren't looking forward to the drive to one of their suburban restaurant locations.
"Awful , awful. I mean that is pretty far to have to go. We are going to have to look at Chula Vista. I really hope they relocate somewhere downtown," Chou said.
For now, Jackson said the company will focus on its five other restaurants. The first order of business is to keep them open on Sundays. It would return the company to pre-pandemic, seven-days-a-week operations.
Jackson remains optimistic and is planning to add a new restaurant in 2025. Lolita’s will celebrate its 40th anniversary in January.
