Downtown Sacramento bar closes for good after city permit citations. Here’s what happened

Three years after opening its doors, downtown Sacramento’s El Santo Restaurant & Ultralounge on K Street has permanently closed.

The closure of the Mexican restaurant and bar follows a difficult run for downtown bars, which included the April mass shooting that left six people dead and 12 wounded near the venue.

“From the beginning we have wanted nothing more but to create a place for the Latin community to feel at home and we do believe we brought exactly that,” read a statement posted on social media from the restaurant owners.

El Santo, which opened in late 2019, is the third restaurant to close in that location in the last five years.

Bennigan’s opened in 2017 and closed 18 months later. The Grid opened in 2018 and closed in 2019.

The city poured hundreds of millions of dollars into redeveloping the neighborhood near the Golden 1 Center after the arena opened in 2016. But businesses took a serious hit when the coronavirus pandemic forced restaurants to close.

This year, after businesses reopened and people returned to Sacramento’s nightspots, at least three fatal shootings took place outside restaurants and bars in the area.

El Santo’s Ultralounge had struggles independent of the recent violence.

The city in September cited the restaurant for violations of its entertainment permit, such as allowing late night taco stands and loud music while its patio doors were open, according to the restaurant.

“It is very unfortunate that this is happening now on the weekend of Mexican Independence and the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month,” read a September statement on the restaurant’s website. “We were looking forward to celebrating our culture with you as we have always made it a safe place for the Latin community. We are still a restaurant and bar that will be open late Friday and Saturday nights until 3 a.m. until further notice.”

The city then denied the restaurant’s renewal application for an entertainment permit last month, according to The Sacramento Business Journal.

Restaurant owners appealed the city’s decision, calling the violations “minor,” but the city’s denial was upheld, and the restaurant could no longer operate as a night club.

This story was originally published December 20, 2022 at 1:52 PM.