Albany: Cafe Eugene closes

Café Eugene from management corp. 1100 Group is closing at 2017 year end. The 1175 Solano Ave., Albany space will hold their next concept, Cantina Del Sol, a full-service spot with bar serving traditional Mexican comfort food. The executive chef will be Luis Rodriguez, formerly of Berkeley’s Picante, who will collaborate with 1100 Group culinary director Chris Laramie and owner Jon Guhl on the menu. It’s expected to open in January 2018.

I never ate there because it seemed expensive for what you got. But another Mexican restaurant? I guess we don’t have many full-service Mexican places, but there are two taquerias and Fonda also on Solano.

Yeah, seemed weird to me, too. Odd choice for the area. I have a lot of family/friends around there, and nobody ever says, “Oh, we’re dying for a better Mexican place to open up!”

Especially since there’s La Crema, a Mexican restaurant that opened up in the former Montara nightclub space, which is just across the street from the Cafe Eugene location.

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