‘Funky, fun’ Eagle restaurant has closed permanently. ‘It’s heartbreaking.’

When Brandt Casey opened Blue Toro in Eagle, it was his first solo restaurant venture. After years working in the family business, Casey had his own “funky, fun place.”

Just over a year later, the dream ended.

Casey has permanently closed his bull-themed Mexican restaurant at 600 S. Rivershore Lane. Why? The coronavirus pandemic, he said. Among the mounting challenges? Rising commodities costs, decreased dine-in business, and the small restaurant’s inability to accommodate a large number of socially distanced customers.

“We fought the fight,” Casey said. “I hung in longer than I should have.”

An Idaho native, Casey is the son of Jeff Casey, who started Cafe Ole Restaurant & Cantina in Boise nearly 40 years ago. Brandt Casey remains general manager for both Cafe Ole locations, which are open at 210 N. Milwaukee St. near Boise Towne Square and at 284 E. Pine Ave. in Meridian.

He’s seen recent headlines about Idaho restaurants closing. He shares in other owners’ grief. “I still have a job with Cafe Ole, thank God,” he said. “But for those people who have lost everything, it is devastating.

“It’s heartbreaking. It’s just beyond that. It’s just such a loss to put so many hours and your heart into it, then to have it go away.”

Struggling to stay afloat, Blue Toro ran on a skeleton crew this summer, Casey says. His wife, who had never worked in restaurants, joined him in the kitchen. “From June through August, she and I were the daytime cooks,” Casey said.

But in the end, the finances did not add up. Facing an “unwinnable situation,” Casey shuttered Blue Toro in mid-October, he said.

Large restaurants such as Cafe Ole are able to do significant customer volume with responsible social distancing, Casey said. Plus, Cafe Ole has a longtime customer base.

But for a smaller local spot such as Blue Toro, COVID-19 roadblocks kept piling up — whether it’s the price of disposable gloves skyrocketing, or employees becoming a challenge to hire and maintain.

“Anybody who’s still open right now, God bless ‘em,” Casey said. “They are doing everything right. I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and I couldn’t make it work during this. If you’re still around, good for you. Because it’s tough.”

That being said? He plans to return. Casey is still keen on opening his own restaurant again — post-pandemic.

“We’ll do something different,” he says. “I’ve done Mexican for so long, I’d love to do something else. But Cafe Ole continues to live on. I love it. We are going to try to put as much energy as we can into that brand.”