After 27 years of operation, a unique bar and restaurant that helped preserve the distinct culture on Queen Street West appears to be the latest establishment to close due to rising rents in Toronto.

Tequila Bookworm, at the northern tip of Portland Street, announced Saturday that it would be shutting its doors in the new year, attributing their closure to increasing rent.

“Queen Street has changed so much in our many decades on the block, and unfortunately it’s time to say goodbye,” they wrote in an Instagram post. “Due to a recent rent hike, we will be closing at the end of January.”

Most online commenters shared the sentiment that it’s a sad day for the Kensington-Chinatown bar-going crowd.

“I think we’ve seen the loss of a lot of places in that area,” said Sacha Sayan, one of the bar’s former weekly visitors. “It definitely is emblematic of some gentrification that’s going on in that stretch of Queen West.”

Sayan told the Star he used to go there once or twice a week when he lived in the area. For Sayan, it was a spot where he could get work done, sip tasty craft beers, listen to music and gaze at the always-entertaining lava lamp they had on the bar.

The building that houses the bar and restaurant is currently up for sale. The Multiple Listing Service has an ad for the 3,000-square-foot property at 512 Queen St. W. asking $3.5 million, with annual taxes set at nearly $43,000 annually.

The ad says the building is “being sold vacant” and is available for a “retail, commercial or professional business.”

David Venn is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @davidvenn_