Elgin restaurant closed, but maybe not for long

La Puesta del Sol Mexican restaurant closed its doors Sunday in Elgin, but it will probably be more of a break than a true goodbye.

Joey Diaz, a co-owner of the business, said the goal is to restructure the business strategy and cut down costs as much as possible before potentially reopening sometime in November. In a sputtering economy, that decision has been a long time coming.

“It’s probably been two to three years that we’ve been thinking about it, but it wasn’t that bad,” Diaz said. “This year is that bad.”

Luis Diaz opened the restaurant in 1997 at 165 E. Highland Ave. Thanks to his father’s success, Diaz said, the family owns the building and won’t have to worry about rent or eviction during the period of the closure. Diaz said not paying rent was much of the saving grace in the last few years.

“For other restaurants, I don’t know how they did it,” he said.

Part of the cost-cutting plan is to minimize the menu and reduce the need for such a broad inventory — it’s wasted food that causes much of the losses, according to Diaz. Some of the seven employees also may be let go and the 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. hours may be cut back.

Diaz said he and his family hope to make a final decision on the new business plan by the end of the year. In that time they’ll continue to operate La Roca grocery store, which Diaz’s father opened in 1973 at 326 DuPage St., in Elgin.