Wild Rooster Bistro, a Fair Oaks staple for Mexican brunch and dinner items, has closed after six-and-a-half years in business.

Named for the birds that roam Fair Oaks’ streets, Wild Rooster Bistro opened in July 2017 at 7984 California Ave. The owners announced its closure in a Facebook post on New Year’s Eve.

“We did our best and couldn’t have done it without you … our valuable and loved clients and friends,” the post read. “Wild Rooster is closed now. Hope you give the same care and support to the new restaurant that will be soon coming to take over.”

Salvador Sanchez, Rocio Fierro and Lorena M. Van Rein all grew up in Jalisco, Mexico before immigrating to the U.S., according to Wild Rooster Bistro’s website. The three friends worked in Sacramento-area kitchens for about 20 years before founding their own restaurant.

Wild Roosters quickly gained a northeastern Sacramento County following for its skill at crafting homey dishes — sopes, cochinita pibil or the flagship chiles relleno, for example — for modern palates. All items could be tweaked to be vegetarian, and the restaurant regularly participated in the Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge.

Both brunch and dinner menus included more classic American items as well, such as vegetable frittata or pulled pork sandwiches on sourdough with fries. Wild Rooster Bistro had 4.6 stars on Yelp after 224 reviews as of closing.

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