ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – There have been several closures in downtown Roanoke recently.
“It's been a long time. We endured as long as we could,” said Gary Walker, co-owner and founder of Cabo Fish Taco.
On Friday, May 3, he spoke to WFXR about the decision announced Tuesday to close the Downtown Roanoke store.
“It takes a tremendous amount to maintain our footprint, and in the downtown area, we have yet to see business pick up as much as we would have liked,” Walker said. .
Walker explained that restaurants across the country have been grappling with the same issues since the pandemic, with several issues including staff shortages, customer shortages and rising supply costs. Cabo is the second downtown restaurant to close within a few weeks. This includes April 20, when Leonore Restaurants closed its Roanoke location.
However, not all businesses downtown are slowing down. A statement from Downtown Roanoke Incorporated said that while it is unfortunate to see the two restaurants leave, several new restaurants have opened downtown in the past few months, with three more scheduled to open this summer. That's what it means.
The Laughing Bull moved downtown last year, and one of its collaborators there gave WFXR an update on the move.
“When we first started there weren't many people, but that was due to the winter crowds and, you know, the rainy season and things like that. But in the last few months, business has been booming, especially during lunchtime, and it's been crazy business. ,” said Chef Brando Stinnett, owner of Lazy Bull Dog Catering Company and collaborator on The Laughing Bull.
The Laughing Bull is located in the City Market Building. Elliott Broyles is executive director of the Market Building Foundation, which has several restaurants downtown.
“We've had 100,000 people come so far this year. At this point, if you look back at 2019, it was only 109,000 people. So 2019 was only 9,000 people away, and it's growing every month,” Broyles said. he said.
The building is equipped with monitors to detect visitors. Broyles said the number of customers is up 70% compared to last year.
While other restaurants are thriving, Walker hopes the new location will help his restaurant. He said he is looking to rent a smaller space near high-traffic Cabo.
“We love this area and we love our customers. We can't have enough of those,” Walker said.
Until then, the restaurant plans to continue doing pop-ups with food trucks. We also have a location in Blacksburg, Virginia.
