Opening a new restaurant, Carlos Raba says, is like “raising a baby.”

Raba talked about his York Road taqueria for years, dreamed about it. He wanted to honor his great-grandmother, a strong Mexican woman who hustled in the kitchen to keep the family fed. After years of setbacks, Nana finally became a reality in early 2024. He nurtured it like a child, watching it grow, watching other people enjoy the restaurant, too.

This week, he shut Nana down after just over one year in business. “I’m burying my kid,” he said.

Raba, who also co-owns Clavel in Remington, said sales had been strong but that he couldn’t keep up with a mountain of debt incurred during an extended three-year-long construction period, including a $90,000 bill in back rent owed to the building’s owner, Jeremy Landsman.

“This past year has been trying as a business, and we’ve been pushing so hard through rotating menu items, restaurant collabs/partnerships and promotions to be able to stay afloat and spread joy through Mexican cuisine for you all,” the restaurant posted Friday on Instagram. The eatery offered specials like $12 rotisserie chicken on Tuesdays and other discounted menu items throughout the week, and did pop-ups with other local businesses like Catalog Coffee in Hampden.

All restaurants face ever-mounting costs and slimmer margins these days. “It’s not easy for anybody right now,” said Raba, a semifinalist for the 2022 James Beard Award in the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category.

After just one year in business, Raba said he was using his own money to cover payroll. “It gets to a time that you don’t want to be a slave of a restaurant,” he said. “It’s not sustainable.”

Raba said he’s also struggled with a less-than-supportive customer base in the surrounding Towson area. “I think sometimes expectations for a small business are higher than chains like McDonald’s and Starbucks,” he said, with guests quick to trash a place online when they don’t get what they want. A month ago, a would-be customer left Nana without ordering, but left behind a one-star review on Google after saying staff failed to acknowledge her.

York Road, too, has challenges as a commercial corridor, Raba said, pointing to nearby Heritage Smokehouse, which nearly closed last year amid low sales.

Even after shuttering Nana, Raba still has plenty on his plate. He co-owns one of Baltimore City’s most beloved restaurants and runs a nonprofit that teaches free jiu-jitsu classes to children. This closure won’t affect any of that.

“There’s many tacos to be served in Baltimore by me,” he said. “Don’t you worry about it.”