¡Salud!, a popular taco shop in Barrio Logan for nearly a decade, has closed suddenly amid failed negotiations for a new lease with the restaurant’s landlord, who said he wanted the business to remain.

Restaurant owner Ernie Becerra announced the abrupt closing last week via Instagram, calling it “one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to express publicly.” He indicated that he had been trying to negotiate a new lease for his 5,200-square-foot space on Logan Avenue but to no avail.

“Not being able to secure what we needed, along with other setbacks, and it’s just been out of everyone’s control, I’ve had to realize that maybe things happen for a reason and are just meant to be … There’s no easy way to say it. And learning to let go has been a task into itself.”

The post elicited hundreds of comments, many of them shaken by the news, calling it “heartbreaking.” One fan noted that Salud had been a “fundamental part of building community and business on the block.”

Landlord Nick Inzunza says he only learned of the restaurant closing via social media and just got the keys back to the space this week from a representative of Becerra. The lease for Becerra’s business — San Diego Taco Company — expired at the end of May, but there were options to renew at the same base rate, which is tied to certain economic indicators, Inzunza said.

“This was not the landlord increasing the rent. I wanted him to stay,” said Inzunza, a former National City mayor. “He was doing really well. He had a line out the door, I don’t know why he gave me back the keys. I was willing to consider a new lease, but I don’t understand why he wanted one because he had the perfect lease.”

Becerra, a fifth-generation San Diegan whose restaurant got a mention several years ago in the New York Times, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Salud had been one of four concepts that Becerra had developed over the years in the century-old building at Logan and Sampson Street that once housed Porkyland.

The shuttering of Salud comes not long after Becerra’s short-lived La Bamba Room, a Japanese-inspired listening bar and restaurant adjoining his taco shop, closed earlier this year. The warning signs of a closure may have come in January when Inzunza said that Becerra came to him and informed him that he’d no longer be on the rental contract for two of his other spaces that housed some art studios and Corazon del Barrio, an entertainment venue and event space. The studios, Inzunza said, continue to have tenants, and Corazon is operating under different management.

“I said, ‘What’s up?’ and he said he was just dealing with issues,” recalled Inzunza.

Becerra previously operated Salud restaurants in National City and Las Vegas but those are no longer in business.

While it’s not entirely clear what prompted Becerra to cease operations in Barrio Logan with no warning, he appears to have been facing financial issues. Public records show that his liquor license has three “holds” or liens on it — from the California Economic Development Department, state Franchise Tax Board, and the Board of Equalization. The latter two holds date to 2020.

Spokespersons for the Tax Board and California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (the successor agency for the Board of Equalization) confirmed Wednesday that the holds refer to unpaid taxes, like sales, excise and income taxes. While the San Diego Taco Company was allowed to continue serving alcohol at Salud and La Bamba, it will not be able to transfer its liquor license until its tax obligations are met, the agencies said.

In his Instagram post, Becerra, who has operated a catering kitchen next to Salud, urged people to continue supporting its catering operation.

Inzunza, who years ago dropped out of politics following news reports he and his wife had rented substandard housing to lower income tenants, said he already is scouting the county for a new restaurant tenant, hopefully a taco shop. He noted that he had just conducted a tour of the Salud space for a number of prospective tenants.

“I’m sitting in front of my building and looking at the sign Salud, and it’s the end of a chapter in my life,” Inzunza said. “Ernie was a really hard-working guy. I felt like we grew this together. He started with 1,000 square feet and grew into the space. You go on this journey with him and then he disappears.”

On his Instagram post, Becerra elaborated on his history in Barrio Logan, boasting that “we’ve done some amazing things” in the neighborhood and that Salud was “lucky enough to be on the cutting edge of the taco movement.”