Wednesday is adiós for Fort Collins’ El Burrito

FORT COLLINS — New Year’s Eve, the last day of 2025, will be the last day of business for a Mexican restaurant in Old Town Fort Collins that has been owned by members of the same family for 65 years.

El Burrito, 404 Linden St., will close Wednesday at its normal time instead of waiting to raise a margarita to toast the arrival of 2026 at midnight, said owner Phil Campbell.

“I’m not taking any more reservations. We’re full up,” Campbell told BizWest Tuesday. “We’ll just have our regular day of business, close at 8 or 8:30 like we always do, and go out with a bang, I guess.”

Well, regular except for the crowds.

“We’ve been so busy, seven or eight times busier than normal” since word got out that the restaurant that opened in 1960 would close,” he said. “People are there as soon as I open. Last night we had an hour and a half wait for a party of four. We’ve had big parties of 10, 20, 40. We’ve had four or five generations of families coming in to get their last meals here.”

Campbell said “a lot of factors are involved” in his decision to close, but added that “I think it’s just time.”

He cited new city fire codes that would make it difficult and expensive — “money you never recoup” —  to upgrade the old building that started its life in 1947 as Sam’s Place, a bar selling 3.2 beer. When owner Salome “Sam” Vigil died in 1960, Jesse and Dorothy Godinez purchased the building along with Jesse’s brother Willie and opened El Burrito, and their third daughter, Connie, took over the business in 1982 along with Campbell, her new husband. They ran it for 43 years along with other members of the Godinez family. Dorothy Godinez still owns the property.

Probably just as big a factor as the fire codes in Campbell’s decision to close was the death of his wife to cancer on Aug. 17.

A graduate of Colorado State University who studied business administration, food and nutrition there, “Connie did all the books and I was the out-front guy,” Campbell said. “I’m starting to learn even more now that she’s gone.”

Campbell had worked in restaurants before marrying into the Godinez family, he said, “and I started out at this place washing dishes.

“Two-thirds of my life has been spent there” at El Burrito, he said. “Being able to work with my wife and family has been so pleasurable.”

Could El Burrito make a comeback somewhere else?

“Maybe in the future but not soon,” Campbell said. “Right now I need a break, because it’s been really busy the last six weeks. Maybe in the future we might have a small place. We’ll see what happens.”

What he’ll always have is a big platter full of great memories, including feeding the Denver Broncos for several years at their summer training camps at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. And, of course, his customers.

“We have the best customers in the world and they’ve kept us going for 65 years,” Campbell said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

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