According to the notice, Barba and his business partners failed to pay $12,500 in rent for the month of April and would have to forfeit the lease if they failed to pay. On Thursday morning, the restaurant\u2019s glass front doors were shackled. Inside, tables were pushed together while the bar, kitchen equipment and beer taps remained intact.<\/p>\n
The cantina, which took over the former Solomon\u2019s Deli space<\/a> in February 2025, was a joint venture between Lisandro \u201cChando\u201d Madrigal, founder of Chando\u2019s Tacos and the former Chando\u2019s Cantina on 16th Street<\/a>, and Jorge Barba, owner of Zaz\u00f3n del Mar in Mangan Park.<\/p>\n At the time, Madrigal described the restaurant as a second chance for his cantina concept after the closures of previous locations in midtown and El Dorado Hills. The restaurant blended Barba\u2019s seafood-focused menu with Chando\u2019s Cantina\u2019s nightlife atmosphere, featuring live Latin music in the upstairs Russ Room space formerly attached to Solomon\u2019s.<\/p>\n Madrigal said the venture would offer \u201cthat kind of food and atmosphere and environment\u201d that downtown Sacramento lacked.<\/p>\n The restaurant on The Kay opened in the summer 2025<\/a> amid renewed hopes for the long-troubled K Street address, which previously housed Solomon\u2019s, the ambitious restaurant and music venue named after Tower Records founder Russ Solomon. Opened in 2019 after years of anticipation surrounding Downtown Commons, Solomon\u2019s debuted as a contemporary Jewish deli and bagel shop before cycling through multiple reinventions, including Solomon\u2019s Vinyl Diner under new ownership in 2023.<\/p>\n Like Chando\u2019s Cantina Zaz\u00f3n del Mar, Solomon\u2019s struggled with downtown Sacramento\u2019s uneven post-pandemic recovery. The restaurant and its upstairs music venue, the Russ Room, closed in June 2024 after owners cited declining foot traffic, rising labor and food costs and lingering economic fallout from COVID-19.<\/p>\n Neither Madrigal nor Barba could be reached for comment to confirm the notice or the apparent closure of the business. Carlos Madrigal, Chando\u2019s adult son and a partner in the venture, declined to comment on the closure.<\/p>\n The shutdown adds to a turbulent stretch for Madrigal\u2019s restaurant empire. Chando\u2019s Tacos closed its remaining Sacramento-area locations in July<\/a>, though restaurants on Power Inn Road and Arden Way reopened three months later and remain open. The closures followed the shuttering of Chando\u2019s Cantina in midtown in 2023<\/a> and the closure of multiple Chando\u2019s Tacos locations in recent years, including Citrus Heights, Elk Grove and two Atlanta-area restaurants.<\/p>\n Madrigal has also faced legal troubles unrelated to his restaurants. In July 2025, he pleaded not guilty in Sacramento Superior Court to felony domestic violenc<\/a>e and battery charges filed earlier that year. Prosecutors alleged Madrigal inflicted corporal injury and serious bodily injury on a woman he reportedly dated.<\/p>\n His attorney said last July that the criminal case was unrelated to the restaurant closures. Madrigal was expected to again appear in court on the case on July 31.<\/p>\n ![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fchandos-cantina-zazon-del-mar-closes-on-k-street-after-less-v0-uvx1vspk4c2h1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D2252%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Da4e910b2f23e4486525a0a46978535959301e7f3\" "\\"IMG_0391.jpg\\"")
The future location of Chando\u2019s Cantina, 730 K St. in downtown Sacramento, still appeared to be in the works on July 29, 2025, after owner Lisandro \u201cChando\u201d Madrigal announced his Sacramento-area taquerias were closed. Camila Pedrosa cpedrosa@sacbee.com Chando Madrigal holds a finished adobada mulitas at Chando\u2019s Tacos in West Sacramento, Calif., on Dec. 30, 2019. The restaurant was among the early locations that helped establish Madrigal\u2019s Chando\u2019s brand, which has since expanded and faced multiple closures and reopenings in the Sacramento region. Paul Kitagaki Jr. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n Chando\u2019s Cantina Zaz\u00f3n del Mar sits locked at 730 K St. in Sacramento on Thursday, May 21, 2026. The downtown restaurant has been closed for several days after co-owner Jorge Barba was served a three-day notice on April 30 alleging $12,500 in unpaid April rent. Daniel Hunt dhunt@sacbee.com
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