Cooter Browns Saloon set to close its doors due to impact from COVID-19 pandemic

SAN ANTONIO – Management at Cooter Browns Saloon say they are shutting their doors after they have exhausted all other options during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The saloon said in a Facebook post Saturday that with the state’s current COVID-19 restrictions, lack of a kitchen and their landlord’s lease agreement — which does not allow food trucks to sit in their parking lot permanently — they are not left with many options.

“It is with great sadness to inform you that we have decided to close down our business. This was not an easy decision, but after weighing all of our options, it made the most sense,” Cooters said on Facebook. “Being closed down for over seven months and having the city/government do a ‘taking’ on our successful business, was devastating. We do not have a kitchen and Santikos does not allow food trucks to sit in their parking lots, permanently.”

The bar, located at 11881 Bandera Road on the Northwest Side, said it was impossible to produce the sales required to pay the rent for the building and remain in compliance with the state’s restrictions.

Management said it will not renew a lease if they are unable to use the space as designed.

“We are in the last year of our 10-year lease and we cannot renew a lease that we are unable to use. We do not have the ‘deep pockets’ that Santikos does, and it is not secret that Santikos does not have the best reputation when it comes to their tenants,” Cooters said on Facebook. “We will definitely keep y’all posted on how they handle us moving forward.”

Fortunately, for fans of the bar, management said that hopefully, this would be only the start of something new.

“God willing, this is not the last that you have seen of Cooters…just the last for now,” Cooters said on Facebook. “In the meantime, we are putting together a WWW Cooter’s Reunion at Doc Brown’s so that we can get together and see some familiar faces. We will keep you posted.”

Currently, in Bexar County under Judge Wolff’s executive order, bars and similar establishments are allowed to offer on-site services at up to “50% of the total listed indoor occupancy of the establishment."

Related: ‘We just couldn’t do it anymore’: Doors close for good at some Bexar County bars