Photo by Erin Nelson.
Guests dine at Cantina Tortilla Grill in West Homewood on Aug. 22. The restaurant reopened the week of Aug. 6.
A popular Birmingham-area eatery is making its comeback in a brand new location.
Cantina Tortilla Grill, which was previously located in Pepper Place from 2003 to 2019, is once again open for business. This time, the Mexican restaurant has found a home in Homewood, in the former location of Little London Kitchen.
“[In 2019] we were looking at different options to move, and we looked at Avondale,” said Aimee Castro, one of the owners of Cantina. “It didn’t work out for us to move to Avondale, but while we were looking, we found the perfect location to reopen our other concept, Sol y Luna. We decided just to concentrate on Sol y Luna, which we re-opened in February of 2020.”
Castro also said it was a “blessing” that they only had one restaurant open during the tumultuous time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My brother-in-law, Guillermo, who started it all, had a lot of Cantina locations,” she said. “When he passed away suddenly in 2011, we consolidated the locations, but we always retained the flagship location in Pepper Place.”
Castro said that Guillermo already had Sol y Luna open in 1998, but after he demoed fish tacos at the Pepper Place Market, someone told him, “Hey these are so good. Why don’t you sell these at Sol y Luna?” He knew Sol y Luna was more upscale, but decided instead to open a restaurant to sell the fish tacos, she said.
The 2019 closure of Cantina Tortilla Grill in Pepper Place happened so quickly that many members of the community didn’t know it had closed. When the pandemic hit, many of the restaurant’s regular patrons feared Cantina might never return.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Castro said. “We are really happy in our spot in West Homewood. The community supports local businesses in a big way.”
She also said that, though it took a while to find their new location, she is thankful that they didn’t have to start “from the ground up” when it came to renovating and refitting a new space to their needs.
The Homewood location will have the same lunch and dinner menu that patrons have come to know and love, but the brunch menu will offer some new items.
Like their previous location, Cantina Tortilla Grill will be closed on Mondays, but will be open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. Brunch will also be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.
Cantina Tortilla Grill in west Homewood will not have a private event space, but Castro believes their patio space is the most appealing feature of this new location.
“During football season, we have TVs on the patio and a few TVs inside,” she said. “For people that don’t travel to the games, come watch the games at Cantina. We will have some fun specials during the games, too.”
Cantina Tortilla Grill is located at 162 Oxmoor Road. For more information, visit cantinabirmingham.com.
