Ambrosia Cafe, a Capitol and state worker favorite, closes in downtown Sacramento

Ambrosia Cafe’s location near the state Capitol, a favorite of lobbyists and state workers for years, is closing permanently Wednesday, owner Pat Murakami confirmed.

Known for its cookies, tuna melts and salads, Ambrosia became arguably the go-to place for daytime meetings around the Capitol over its 16-year run at 1030 K St. Murakami bought what was then Espresso Metro, which closed its one remaining location in May, from her neighbor Pat Castleberry and co-owner Joan Riordan in 2004.

The coronavirus pandemic has made face-to-face meetings hazardous, though, and Ambrosia’s revenue dried up with many lobbyists, legislative staff and state employees working remotely and all conferences postponed. Murakami, who opened Ambrosia’s initial iteration on El Camino Avenue in 1996, couldn’t pay rent and was packing up the cafe on Wednesday, she said.

Turton Commercial Real Estate is looking for another business, likely a restaurant, to fill the 3,000 square-foot vacancy at 1030 K St., vice president Scott Kingston said Wednesday. Kingston’s since-deleted tweet Tuesday afternoon alerted followers that Ambrosia was closing.

“I’ve been in this business for 17 years, and they’ve been down there as long as I remember,” Kingston said Wednesday.

Ambrosia Fine Food was still soliciting catering orders in an email to customers Monday, though Murakami told The Sacramento Bee in March that catering revenue had dropped sharply as well given a lack of events. The 621 Capitol Mall location remains open as well, Ambrosia confirmed in a Facebook post.

Click here for more Sacramento-area restaurants that have closed permanently during the pandemic.

This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 12:39 PM.