Albany’s Ama Cocina Closing After Years Of Struggling

Once a vibrant place to go for some evening entertainment, Albany, NY's Downtown has all but vanished. What is left is quickly vanishing just as fast as it popped up. The latest casualty is Ama Cocina, a Mexican Restaurant on Sheridan Ave, just off of Pearl Street.

Steve Barnes of the Times Union reported on this Wednesday sighting that the restaurant struggled to find customers, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic had it closed for nearly three years. BMT Hospitality are the owners of this establishment and own several other very successful restaurants around Albany including Cafe Madison, Junior's, Spinner's, the Madison Pour House and Albany Ale & Oyster. They say that one of the reasons for this closure is that the city doesn't make it easy for the businesses to operate. They also said there just aren't enough customers. They're official last day will be October 25, 2025.

The city and downtown Albany aren’t doing enough to support business in Albany.

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I've posted quite a few times about businesses opening up in Albany recently, but it's not within the traditional downtown area. These businesses in Albany that are opening outside of that area seem to be doing well.

What's the deal with downtown?

I think there are several issues at play here. There's nothing consistent to attract someone to Downtown Albany. While there may be some concerts and events that bring people out, these businesses need consistent customers to keep them going. They can't be event dependent.

Why is there a consistency problem? This goes back years. Once most of the older bars and restaurants that used to make up Pearl Street from back in the day closed people stopped coming to Albany - or at least that part of it. There's still a vibrant nightlife is other areas like Lark Street, the Warehouse District, and Midtown areas. People are coming out to those spots.

The biggest issue that Downtown Albany face is an identify problem. It used to be a place to go for nightlife activity. The city then decided it didn't want to be known for that. Now they want to be known for that again, but the customers aren't coming back. I don't think pumping millions of dollars into an area that once was amazing will make it that again. I think Albany should look to the future and see where those funds would truly make a difference.