Sancho Pistola’s closes in Fishtown, less than two months after Jose Pistola’s shut down
The owners say lingering pandemic debt and an approaching lease decision led them to close the 12-year-old Mexican bar. Their third restaurant, Pistola’s Del Sur, remains open.
Sancho Pistola’s, the Mexican bar and restaurant that helped establish Fishtown as a destination for tacos, craft beer, and late-night dining, has closed after 12 years, less than two months after its owners shut down Jose Pistola’s in Center City.
The closing of Sancho Pistola’s, at 19 W. Girard Ave., leaves business partners Joe Gunn and Casey Parker with Pistola’s Del Sur on East Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia.
Gunn said Sancho Pistola’s continued to draw customers, but debt accumulated during the pandemic proved difficult to overcome. With the lease nearing its end, the partners faced a choice between committing to another five years or cutting their losses.
“We fell behind during COVID, and we’ve been fighting like hell to dig ourselves out of it ever since,” Gunn said. “We could keep going, potentially making things worse for another five years, or we could cut our losses.”
The restaurant closed after service Sunday. Gunn said he and Parker made the decision Friday and informed the roughly 25 employees Saturday morning. The partners hope to place some at Pistola’s Del Sur and help others find jobs elsewhere.
Sancho Pistola’s opened in January 2014 at Girard Avenue and Leopard Street, in the former Bubba’s Texas BBQ. It followed the formula that had made Jose Pistola’s a Center City fixture: Mexican-inspired food, craft beer, cocktails, and a casual neighborhood-bar atmosphere. Its fish tacos, ceviche, and other seafood dishes attracted a late-night crowd, partly drawn from nearby concerts, Gunn said.
A third partner in Sancho Pistola’s was chef Adan Trinidad, a native of Puebla, Mexico, who had transformed the food at Jose Pistola’s before helping expand the business to Fishtown and South Philadelphia. Trinidad, 39, died in October 2021 after an apparent fall near his South Philadelphia home. His death was a major loss for the restaurants, where he had overseen the kitchens and mentored employees.
Jose Pistola’s, which opened in 2007 at 263 S. 15th St., closed in late August after Philadelphia Gas Works shut off its gas service. Gunn said the shut-off prompted a decision the owners had already been contemplating amid rising costs, declining late-night business, and lingering pandemic debt.
Sancho Pistola’s closed under different circumstances. Gunn said the partners wanted to avoid another long-term lease commitment while still paying down debt. He praised the landlord, saying the relationship had been good.
“It’s not like we’re closing because people stopped coming,” Gunn said. “Everything is so expensive. And people’s habits are different. They’re better, healthier habits. Young people, I don’t think they think about drinking as much.”
Each Pistola’s location faced different challenges. Jose Pistola’s had substantial overhead and lost much of the late-night trade that once kept it busy until 2 a.m. Sancho Pistola’s retained a late-night following, while Pistola’s Del Sur has a shorter peak business period because customers tend to turn in earlier, Gunn said.
Pistola’s Del Sur, which opened in 2017, remains open, with no immediate decision looming about its future.
For Gunn, a longtime Philadelphia bar operator, the challenge is keeping prices affordable while expenses continue to rise.
“We’re about as cheap as we can be, and it still feels like our prices are too high,” he said. “It’s crazy.”
