• Katie Olson ©️ Seven Days
• El Gato Cantina in Burlington

After 12 years on lower Church Street, El Gato Cantina permanently closed the doors of its Burlington location this week. The Mexican restaurant's Essex Junction restaurant, food truck, and events and catering business will remain.

"It's a numbers thing," owner Tree Bertram told Seven Days, citing COVID-19-related changes; increasing costs of labor, ingredients and rent; and "a tough market downtown right now" as reasons for the closure.

"Essex [Junction] is doing great," Bertram said of the restaurant's location there. "Our food truck and events are strong as well. So we really want to focus our time on the thriving parts of the business."

El Gato's space at 169 Church Street, where the restaurant originally opened in August 2011, will be available for events, pop-ups and holiday party rentals through December. From there, the "really turnkey" restaurant will be on the market with assets valued at $140,000, Bertram said.

Staff were notified of the closure on Monday. Some of the roughly 20 employees, many of whom are part time, have been offered opportunities elsewhere in the company, Bertram said.

Before deciding to close the Burlington location, she said, she tried strategies to keep it afloat, such as streamlining the menu to reduce prep and payroll costs. "But you see the writing on the wall," she said. "We had a great run here, with awesome employees and wonderful patrons. I'm sad to be leaving."