Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine restaurant closing

ALBANY — After serving Albany area diners for the past three years, the Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine restaurant is closing its doors this weekend so its owners can spend more time with family.

The move was announced on the Lemon Grass Facebook page on Monday and was confirmed by co-owner Sue Lopez on Tuesday. Lopez said she and her husband, Geronimo Lopez, made the decision to close the restaurant now since they’ve reached the end of the restaurant’s three-year lease at 2820 Meredyth Drive.

“It was a good time because our lease was up,” said Sue Lopez. “We’re just through with the business for now.”

Lopez said the restaurant was profitable, but that running it, along with the family’s two other Albany restaurants, El Vaquero and Los Vaqueros, did not leave enough time for the Lopezes to spend with their children.

“There’s nothing wrong with the restaurant or with Albany,” Sue Lopez said. “It’s a family thing. We want to spend more time with family. Our plate was just overfilled.”

Lopez had nothing but praise for the restaurant’s customers, saying people from Albany and surrounding towns like Sylvester had always been good patrons of Lemon Grass and had helped make it a success.

“It has nothing to do with the economy or running a restaurant in Albany,” Lopez said. “I really don’t want people to be discouraged about running a restaurant in Albany. It wasn’t that at all. The restaurant’s reputation was great and we had a lot of good customers. The traffic has been good. We are very thankful.”

Though Lopez said it was the right time to close Lemon Grass, it was a difficult decision emotionally.

“It’s sad,” Lopez said. “I love this business. It’s in my blood and soul. We just had to step back and adjust. You can’t get back time spent with your family. Once that time is gone, it’s gone.”

Lopez said the family has no plans to close its other two restaurants, which she said are successful. She also did not rule out the possibility of opening another restaurant in the area in the future.

“Business in Albany is good,” said Lopez. “Maybe in the future when the kids are all grown up and leave the nest we’ll do something else.”

The restaurant will serve its final meals on Saturday and will operate as usual until then. Lemon Grass is open through Friday from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.-10 p.m. It will be open Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.