Mexican restaurant to shutter after 22 years
UPDATE (July 19, 2010): Caramba Cafe to reopen at the Pencil Factory Lofts Downtown
Caramba Cafe, a Mexican restaurant located in the Morningside area on N. Highland avenue, is closing.
The 22-year-old Mexican restaurant originally opened in 1988. The cafe will close its Morningside location this Saturday, June 12.
Saturday marks the expiration of their 20 year lease. In renegotiating, management suggests that the new rent price is an unaffordable increase and is why the restaurant is closing after what appears to be a successful run.
However, Caramba Cafe fans can rejoice in knowing that there are plans for a new location and according to management, are well underway. Scouting out possible space, hopes for the new location include one that is within a three mile radius of the original. There isn’t a working lease at the moment and the new location has not been confirmed.
As much as it is upsetting to continuously write about all of the recent restaurant closures in this great city of ours, any thoughts or suggestions on what should fill this space or the recently shutter Pomodoro Italian restaurant across the street?
Caramba Cafe
1409D N. Highland Ave.
Atlanta, Ga. 30306
8 Responses
pomodoro should be the new restaurant from Delia champion, the flying biscuit founder.
This little quasi-VaHi-but-not-really cluster of shops needs more than just one entry-level restaurant (I love Rosebud, but it’s price level is “two-dollar signs” rather than just one-dollar sign). I’d love to see a bar there open late but not sure the area could support it since 1) its more surrounded by single-family homes and 2) it’s a mile away from the intersection of Virginia and N. Highland so no stragglers from there are going to walk all the up N. Highland.
Ahhhh gone are the days of the real Virginia Highlands. The corporate ball that powers much of the retail in planned communities of Georgia has finally started to dig its hooks into the inner city neighborhoods of Atlanta. Coming down the pipeline by popular demand; the Gap , baby Gap , Starbucks, Bed Bath and Beyond, Subway , Moe’s ,- oh and lest we forget the Flying Biscuit is now owned by a corporate conglomerate. They own Planet Smoothie , Moe’s,Doc Greenes, Mama FU’s and more! You too can step up for a franchise; the list goes on and on. It has started to roll in the Highlands and is now picking up momentum. First the rents go sky high, then investors start putting in “harmless” boutique restaurants using notorious chefs reputations to hide behind. ( insert name here ) This starts by large corporate investors wanting to “expand the brand” so they disguise this by offering large sums of money for spaces like the old detail shop up in the Highlands( like we need ONE more hamburger joint in the neighborhood), the Caramba space and any other for that matter. We should all keep a watchful eye if there is any part of the old charming neighborhood called Virginia Highlands to be left for anyone to enjoy. Let’s hope that this trend does not continue. I will miss Caramba as it represented so much of what makes the Highlands great.
Seems like the owners of that plaza want to up their rents which implies a higher priced restaurant, but they may not be giving enough thought to their costs of downtime to find a new tenant (a year?) and the costs to renovate the space, which will be the landlords responsibility to pay the majority of if they’re looking for a good tenant that pays a high rental rate.
Hope Caramba finds a good home so we can still visit it.
This area is not Virginia HIghland, but Morningside. Amsterdam Avenue is the boundary that separates the two distinct neighborhoods.
we love caramba cafe and are sad to see it go. shame on the property owners for not understanding their neighborhood and what makes caramba so special and successful.
Drove by Caramba’s today and they’re closed! It’s sad to see this place gone, as the neighborhood and patrons have supported this establishment for many years. I still miss Partners and Indigo Grill. NO Corporate name will ever do for this neighborhood what these independent, talented, honest, hardworking restaurantuers have created. I hope some home grown talent comes to town soon! It’s just not the same anymore!
Signed,
Love em and leave em.
Wherever Caramba re-opens, we can be sure they will continue to serve fine Mexican food but still treat customers rudely.