After less than a year at it's Iowa City location, BeerBurger has closed its doors. The restaurant was the second location opened by the North Liberty-based business.

Neither BeerBurger general manager Adam Douglas, nor building owner Jeff Clark could be reached for comment. However, former Zombie Burger co-owner Paul Rottenberg — who closed that chain's store in the same Iowa City location in February of 2018 after a little over a year in the same location — indicated lack of foot traffic might be the issue.

“While we thought building a Zombie Burger in the epicenter of a college town would be a slam dunk, it became clear that our high-volume, family-driven brand wasn’t a fit for the setting,” said Rottenberg, co-owner of Zombie Burger and president of Orchestrate Hospitality, in a news release at the time.

John Burchert, CEO of MAiNGREDIANT, which operates BeerBurger, said the company will be concentrating on its original location in a release sent to the Press-Citizen regarding the Iowa City closing.

"While responding to the ever-changing demands of the industry, we have decided to consolidate our BeerBurger resources into our original North Liberty, Iowa location to strengthen our position," a selection of the release reads. "We would like to thank all of our customers for their continued support as well as Iowa City and the Downtown District for recognizing the ongoing need for small business to thrive."

Local business, Estela's Fresh Mex, is right next door to the former BeerBurger location. Estela's opened in October of 2017, and co-owner Jerry Vazquez said the restaurant continues to grow its customer base.

“We’ve had a steady increase since we’ve opened; little bit of a dip in the summer but other than that (we've seen an increase)," said Vazquez. “Our numbers have increased between 20 and 30 percent from last summer.”

He attributes Estela's success in part to being owner-operated. Iowa City customers, he said, appear to be eager to support businesses like that. He also pointed out that though Chipotle and Pancheros offer similar food options, Estela's offers options they don't.

"The late night really does help us; late night is one of our busiest times," said Vazquez, referring to the fact Estela's is open from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. three days of the week. While Pancheros has similar hours—open to at least 2 a.m. seven days a week—Chipotle closes earlier and neither venue is open during breakfast hours.

For Kevin Wu, manager and owner of Soseki Café, located in the same building, supplying a menu and services unique from other downtown eateries has helped him maintain a strong customer base.

Still, he knows it's been tough for many restaurants given the non-mandatory increase of Johnson County's minimum wage that took effect July 1. In his case, the cost of some of the goods he imports for his restaurant have gone up remarkably due to tariffs.

“I’m not really surprised that Zombie Burger or BeerBurger went away," Wu said. “When there’s something that’s happening, the first ones to go are the (businesses) that are a little slower."

Isaac Hamlet covers arts, entertainment and culture at the Press-Citizen. Reach him at ihamlet@press-citizen.com or (319)-688-4247, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet