The popular 11-year-old Tex-Mex restaurant and bar West of Pecos has apparently suffered a drop in business since the pandemic, as so many restaurants have, and has announced its final day in business will be Saturday, October 28.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the address 550 Valencia was home to Bombay Bazar, an Indian grocery store and ice cream shop. But when that shop left for Van Ness Avenue in 2012, the Tex-Mex restaurant and bar West of Pecos moved in, and you had to wonder if another Mexican restaurant could survive right next door to the premier margarita pitcher destination Puerto Allegre.  

But West of Pecos seemed to do well, thanks to its inventive cocktail menu, mechanical bull attraction, and its “San Antonio style” iteration of Mexican cuisine that differed enough from Puerto Allegre that it apparently drew its own crowds. Or it did until the pandemic, at least, as Mission Local reports that West of Pecos will be closing near the end of this month.

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce that October 28th will be the last day at West of Pecos,” the restaurant said in a Friday Instagram post. “We are profoundly grateful for the last 11 years of business. It seemed like it went by in the blink of an eye.”

“We are still open for another few weeks, so come on in, share a memory and a marg and let's go out with a big fun party!,” the post adds.

The restaurant’s owners did not comment to Mission Local. But staff did, and acknowledged that business simply has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“People (are) not coming,” one staffer named Yaneth told Mission Local. “Business is slow, and the space is too big.”

A regular customer agreed. “It used to be difficult to get a reservation, but now the business is a lot slower,” that customer told the site.

The decrease in customer traffic seems analogous to the factors behind late August’s closure of Gracias Madre closure about a block away on Mission Street.  Gracias Madre may have had other factors too. But one factor that seemingly everyone in hospitality is dealing with is how people aren't going out as much as they did pre-pandemic.

Related: SFist Drinks: The Mezcal Mule At West Of Pecos [SFist]

Image: Ed U. via Yelp