Beloved San Juan Bautista restaurant, Doña Esthers, confirms to KION that it’s closing

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Monday afternoon an employee of the Doña Esthers restaurant in San Juan Bautista told KION that it will be closing its doors for good on October 31.

According to the restaurant's website, it has been open for over three decades years: "Doña Esther's is a family run restaurant that has been a staple of Downtown San Juan Bautista for over 35 years."

Doña Esthers' Instagram account says that the location was elsewhere before landing in the San Juan Bautista location, and that the eatery celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022.

A manager at the restaurant confirmed the closure. They said the reason is because it's not as busy at the restaurant as it used to be.

She added there's around 26 employees working at the restaurant at this time.

She would not confirm if the lack of business is a carryover from pandemic-related struggles many businesses faced.