Jose Flores, who runs the restaurant with his siblings David Flores, Edward Flores and Teresa Luevano, said the planned closure is not driven by financial trouble. Rising operating costs have added pressure, but the siblings are all at retirement age after decades of running Chapala.

“We are getting older. We knew it was time,” Jose Flores said. “It’s been hard. We knew this day was coming.”

The family first opened Chapala in downtown Los Angeles in the 1960s, then moved to Las Vegas, where the restaurant operated near Charleston Boulevard and Bruce Street before relocating to the Tropicana Avenue plaza. It has occupied two locations in the plaza over the years.

The announcement has brought a surge of customers hoping for one more meal and prompted an outpouring of messages from former and longtime patrons. Many say Chapala has been part of their lives for decades, with regulars returning for its chile verde, chilaquiles and margaritas served on tap.

Tony Carrison, who usually visits about three times a month, has been coming more often since learning the restaurant may close. “Chapala has been home forever,” he said.

Nancy Montgomery, who visits several times a month and gathers there with her bridge club, said customers are sad but understand the family’s decision.

The restaurant’s ties to its customers are reflected in its staff, many of whom have worked there for decades. Jose Flores recalls watching one regular customer grow from a child who needed a high chair into an adult who now brings her own family. Luevano remembers a customer who came every Tuesday for a margarita until her death at 102.

“We’ve served generations of families,” Jose Flores said. “They are more than customers. They have become our family.”

David Flores has spent decades in the kitchen, cooking with recipes passed down through the family. He described the work as cooking for family, with customers included in that circle.

“Everything has to come to an end,” he said. “It’s sad. But we’ve had a long run. And we’ve made a lot of friends.”

The restaurant’s departure would mark another change along a stretch of Tropicana once known for longtime dining destinations. The Thunderbird, located across the street, moved to Henderson and closed in 2018; Bootlegger Italian Restaurant moved from Eastern Avenue to Las Vegas Boulevard South in 2001.

For now, the Flores family’s discussions with a prospective operator leave open the possibility that Chapala could continue under new stewardship. The siblings’ own years behind the counter and in the kitchen, however, are drawing to a close.