Food & Wine

Popular family-owned cheesy restaurant in Kennewick closing for good on Saturday

Mario Quintero announced Oct. 12 will be the final day for Brother’s Cheese Steaks, which moved to Gage Boulevard in Kennewick from the Pasco Specialty Kitchen in 2022.
Mario Quintero announced Oct. 12 will be the final day for Brother’s Cheese Steaks, which moved to Gage Boulevard in Kennewick from the Pasco Specialty Kitchen in 2022. bbrawdy@tricityherald.com

Brother’s Cheese Steaks will close its Kennewick restaurant for good on Oct. 12.

The Tri-Cities icon announced the decision on Facebook.

“Despite being a 4.5-star rated restaurant, economic challenges have made it unsustainable for us to continue operations,” owner Mario Quintero said on the Brother’s Facebook page. “The decision to close has been agonizing, accompanied by sleepless nights.”

Quintero poured his “heart and soul” into building the family business. He established Brother’s Cheese Steaks at Pasco Specialty Kitchen in 2018 with a mission to bring cheese steaks along with love, positivity and change to the community.

He moved out of the startup kitchen 2022 and into the former Indian Cuisine Express space at 8524 W. Gage Blvd., near Costco.

The Gage location provided more room to customize its popular cheese steaks as well as seating for dine-in customers. Quintero indicated the move was a bad fit for Brother’s.

“My passion for making cheesesteaks hasn’t waned, and I ponder whether transitioning to a sit-down establishment was the right choice for Brother’s Cheesesteaks. Perhaps a food truck would have been a more viable option?” he wrote, adding, “The future is uncertain for us.”

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This story was originally published October 11, 2024 at 3:22 PM.

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