The Taqueria El Pollo restaurant on West Jefferson will be closing at the end of the month after six years in business.
The high cost of doing business in the current economy prompted the closing, said Julio Barrenzuela, who has served as a business liaison for small business owners in the area and works with Matteo Garcia Alonzo, who owns the restaurant.
“Things just got really expensive,” Barrenzuela said. “This economy is tough on small businesses, and this is just one more victim of that.”
The 2,160-square-foot building at the corner of West Jefferson and Walnut streets, which Taqueria El Pollo has leased since 2020, is now for sale, with a listing price of $470,000. The property is owned by C.T. and Chen Yang of Cupertino, California, according to Sangamon County real estate records.
The building previously housed Mr. Eggroll, a Chinese restaurant founded by C.T. Yang in 1983. He stepped down from the daily operations in 2001, but then leased the property to a tenant who continued to operate the restaurant until April 2018.
Taqueria El Pollo opened early in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Because the business had been opened for less than a year when the pandemic started, it was not eligible for much of the business assistance provided to many small businesses during the shutdown.
“Unfortunately, it was a really difficult time to be starting a business,” Barrenzuela said.
Taqueria El Pollo’s owners currently have no plans to reopen in a new location, Barrenzuela said, adding that they may reassess the situation in the future.