Chu-Cho’s in Blacksburg closes
Chu-Cho’s, a Mexican restaurant in Blacksburg, has closed.
The eatery shut its doors Jan. 10 according to Bob Pack, owner of Pointe West Management – the company that owns the building.
The restaurant opened in Collegiate Square in September 2010.
Pack said Chu-Cho’s owner, Jose Antonio Ulloa, was having a hard time financially during Virginia Tech’s summer and winter breaks.
Pack said Chu-Cho’s downfall was accelerated when New Tech Fitness, also located inside Collegiate Square, closed back in December. He estimated that New Tech lost an estimated 350 to 400 members after Tech expanded McComas Hall and added a new workout facility in 2010.
“We operate, and are so dependent, on the semester system around here,” Pack said. “In May, after graduation, things slow down and if the locals aren’t patrons, you get killed.”
Pack said Pointe West worked with Chu-Cho’s several times to help the business remain open, but Chu-Cho’s couldn’t make it work in the end.
According to Pack, there are several businesses looking at the location, but he couldn’t disclose their names at this time.
– Mike Shaw, The Burgs
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Now is the time to start a good restaurant there! With the new VT building going in, you will have staff in the location year-round!
Comment by Queen of Pith — February 1, 2012 @ 1:47 pm
I think it’s pretty telling that a restaurant closed in Blacksburg and it took 21 days for anyone to notice.
Comment by Dan — February 1, 2012 @ 5:23 pm
The building has had so many restaurants in it. That location must be tough.
Comment by Liza Smith — February 2, 2012 @ 12:08 pm
I am very sad! As a native Texan, I appreciate the difference between authentic central Mexican offerings like homemade chicken tamales, fried yucca plant, plantains, and chile rellenos, as opposed to cheap canned college Mex, and I am disappointed others in town did not see the noble owner’s vision. I will really miss this place, and am back to mail ordering my tamales from Texas.
Comment by Meredith — February 2, 2012 @ 1:56 pm
That location has been historically bad. The parking has been nightmarish, though with the fitness center gone, I suppose it probably improved a bit. But before when it was Boston beanery, parking was hard to find because that lot was under-sized for the demand from the surrounding tenants (though Tech Fitness was open then). It’s also not a terribly visible location from Prices Fork Road, where the bulk of traffic drives past, since the storefront is more toward the back of the property. It’s more visible from Turner Street, but that’s more a cut-through road than anything else.
Comment by Other John — February 7, 2012 @ 4:31 pm
This local was a patron until the quality went downhill, fast. It’s a shame, the first time I went there it was excellent, but never again.
Comment by Robin — February 7, 2012 @ 7:40 pm