“With a very heavy heart, I am sad to announce that we are closing Krazy Taco 937 effective immediately,” owner Steve Levitt wrote in a Facebook post on the restaurant’s page.
“I want to thank the staff, past and current, for going down this path with me. I’m very proud of what we accomplished,” he said in the post. “To our customers: thank you for showing up, cheering us on and giving this place a soul. Your support meant more than you know.”
Levitt spoke out in a video to the businesses Facebook page Tuesday about the decision to close and “fill you in on the good, the bad, the ugly.” He said the closure was because of a multitude of things such as the rising cost of food, energy (electric bills), insurance, salaries, staffing issues like constant turnover and not making a profit.
“It’s a difficult balancing act that we’re trying to do here, and the margins are very, very thin. You really need everything to line up perfectly week to week, and it did a lot of times, but then it started not to in certain situations,” he said.
“We were just operating and trying the best that we could, and I think we did a pretty dang good job of it. Were we perfect, no, but we tried to self-reflect and tried to make it better.”
When he came in to work Sunday before he decided to close, Levitt said he started thinking about having to hire more people and train them.
“I just said, you know what, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t deal with it. I wanted this business; I didn’t need this business. I have two other jobs beyond Krazy Taco and dealing with that constantly, then couple that with the restaurant just paying its bills, there wasn’t any profit because the expenses are high,” he said.
Owners Steve and Crissy Levitt took over the business in October 2023 and opened only about a month later in November that year.
When they opened, Levitt planned to give the place a “cool, trendy, cantina vibe” with fresh bold flavors and cocktails, and he wanted to make it a “notch above the gold standard.”
They teamed up with Louie and Amanda with The Painted Pepper, who had been consulting with the couple about all things business related, and bartender Joel Shear, former bartender at the Market Bar, to help get the business going.
“When I bought the restaurant from Felix, the goal was to really just build on what he had, laid the foundation for and to put our spin on it. I feel like we did that. I’m going to leave this, and I’m going to look back, and I’m going to hold my head high in that regard,” Levitt said in the video.
Levitt is a mortgage lender from Columbus who cooked for fun. He, his wife, Crissy, and their son, Ian, moved to Springfield less than 10 years ago. He said then he would stay in the mortgage industry while running the business.
Levitt previously said he wasn’t looking to open a restaurant, but when looking for some properties in the area, the businesses came up. He talked to the former owner, and about 30 days later, he was the new owner.
“I didn’t do this to make myself personally wealthy from a mom-and-pop restaurant. I did it because I’m passionate about food and I thought I could take something that was here and make it better,” he said. “I’m really, really proud of that at the end of the day, but the multitude of issues on a daily basis and it just didn’t make sense to keep it open anymore.”
Now, Levitt said he’s looking to probably put the restaurant up for sale.
Krazy Taco was the winner for best tacos and finalists for best lunch spot in this year’s Best of Springfield, and won best cocktails in the Best of Springfield 2024.
Many community members took to the post and video, with a combined total of more than 900 comments, 450 shares nearly 3,000 reactions.
“You could get a taco at so many different places. But Krazy Taco has its own vibe on top of great food. A big loss to lose such a unique dining experience. May things go well, no matter what that next step is,” Scott Beckerman commented.
“I am very sad to see a place of such caliber close its doors, but I also understand this economy and town is not always easy to navigate. Thanks for everything you brought to Springfield. And I wish you well in your future endeavors,” Chris Foster said.
“I think I can speak on behalf of many people when I say we hope everything is okay, we wish you well, and we want to say thank you for the great food and memories,” Tresa Harvey commented.
Felix commented on Levitt’s video, saying, “Steve, you did me proud...you made it your own and was very successful. I applaud your hard work, wish the best for you and family...thanks for taking care of Krazy Taco.”
For more information, visit the restaurant’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/937KrazyTaco.
About the Author
