A longtime favorite restaurant for Chinese food in downtown Colorado Springs will shutter its doors at month’s end.

China Town Restaurant at 326 S. Nevada Ave. will close at the end of December, owner Eva Zhang said. Zhang rents the space in the building, which was constructed in 1963. It has operated as China Town Restaurant for more than 50 years, the last 24 under Zhang.

Though she has not announced the closure on the restaurant’s Facebook page, which acts as its official company website, Zhang has been informing customers personally when they come to dine.

“A lot of them have said they are sad (about the closure) because they’ve been coming here so long. We have people who used to come to eat here as children, and now they visit with their spouses,” she said. Customers on Facebook and Google have given overall rave reviews, praising the restaurant’s “delicious” food and high-quality service. Popular menu items include Americanized Chinese dishes such as orange chicken and other staples like Mongolian beef, fried rice, lo mein and egg drop soup.

Zhang said her building lease is up at the end of the year and she decided not to renew her contract for several reasons: a near doubling of her monthly rent, difficulty hiring employees and increasing food costs.

“Everything is expensive,” she said. “What used to be $18 for a case of eggs is now $65 a case. Beef and other meats that used to be $4 a pound are now $8 a pound.”

Zhang said she’s increased menu prices to help offset her business costs, but wanted to be mindful that most people’s wallets have been hit by inflation in recent years. As a result, her revenue margins are thin, she said.

She doesn’t have immediate plans to reopen China Town Restaurant in another location and is looking forward to a brief pause from her work.

She doesn’t expect her time off to be too long, though.

“I need something to do. If I do open another Chinese restaurant, it will be a small one,” she said.