The Coronado, beloved Phoenix vegan restaurant, at risk of closing permanently

PHOENIX - The Coronado, a beloved vegan restaurant in central Phoenix, is efforting one last push to get customers through their doors. 

If not, they'll have to close down permanently.

The restaurant sitting on the corner of 12th Street and Oak has changed their hours and their menu, and the owner says they're running out of options.

"It's a really tough industry, being in this industry," said owner Juan Tavarez. "We couldn't be here without the community."

Tavarez and his wife Elizabeth own the vegan eatery and took to social media as their final effort to save their small business, posting a plea for help on Facebook and Instagram:

In the spirit of always being transparent, we want to let our community know that we are in a precarious position. We are so grateful for everyone who has supported us these past 7+ years, which makes it extra hard to ask this, but we need your help if we're going to make it through. We've seen several of our favorite vegan spots close and we know how important it is that our community grows, rather than fades away.

"We don't want to say after the fact, like, hey we're closed, sorry," said Tavarez. "I'd rather be like, hey, we're in this together, we need help."

The owner says they've adjusted where they can, but it's still not enough with the cost of produce going up and customer count going down.

"Putting out the post is really important to us just to let people know, listen, we're in it. We might be closed next week," said Tavarez. "Everybody is a week away from closing their doors."

Their Instagram post has already reached thousands of people choosing to support local.

"As we've asked the community to come back out, they've really shown up, and everyday people are coming in is a really good day," said lead prep cook Lex Kirk.

One family from Gilbert is one of many who didn't think twice when they heard the news.

"When we saw the post on instagram we wanted to support a local restaurant, local businesses," said Mike Maitrel Burgart.

"Honestly we've seen that a lot of small businesses need support," said Mikayla Scaife. "They are being hit by inflation like so many crazy things."

In just one day, things are looking up - but the owners say they have more digging to do before they're out of the hole.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried and just really hope that we're able to keep doing what we do, but it is difficult," said Lex Kirk.

The Coronado team says this isn't goodbyes, however.

"It is a passion of ours to do what we do," Tavarez said.