Sol Y Luna finds new life in Lane Parke
On a bright morning in early December, Jorge Castro settles into a chair and sips hot coffee from a mug. It’s cold outside, with the temperature in the low 40s.
Castro has walked to Revelator Coffee Company in Mountain Brook’s Lane Parke to discuss the restaurant he will open down the street in about two months. As he details his vision, the space where he will carry it out is a construction zone.
There are walls getting fresh coats of paint, booths taking different shapes and counters waiting to be overhauled. When the interior work is finished, Castro will reopen the popular Birmingham restaurant that welcomed its last customer nearly seven years ago: Sol Y Luna.
“We are really excited to come back, reopen,” Castro said. “We love the area right here.”
Castro’s late brother, Guillermo, started Sol Y Luna in 1998 in Birmingham’s Lakeview District. Its menu featured Mexican tapas dishes, premium tequilas and Latin cuisine in an upscale setting. Castro said his brother a chef, created the restaurant to offer the community a place to eat, drink, have fun and, “more than everything, feel the warmer part of the Mexican culture that is around the table.”
Sol Y Luna built a sparkling reputation during its 15 years in business before closing in 2013 due to what Castro calls a changing market in their slice of downtown Birmingham. Guillermo died of a heart attack two years prior, but Castro said that played less of a role in the decision made by him and his brother, Alex, to shutter the establishment.
“That was our first baby. That was something that was really hard, trying to close,” Castro said. “But always, when we closed, there was the expectation to open back somewhere — sometime, somewhere.”
After he closed Sol Y Luna, Castro concentrated on another restaurant his family opened in Birmingham in the early 2000s: Cantina Tortilla Grill, which closed in 2019.
Castro never shook the idea of reopening Sol Y Luna while he focused his efforts elsewhere. When Sam Heide of Crawford Square Real Estate Advisors, which oversees the leasing and management of Lane Parke, contacted him about the space at 920 Lane Parke Court, he knew it was time to act.
“I believe in God, and God did everything in the right moment at the right place,” Castro said.
On the edge of Mountain Brook Village, Lane Parke sits near the junction of Mountain Brook, Homewood and Birmingham. The location — occupied formerly by Local Taco — appealed to Castro. So did Lane Parke’s potential.
“It’s a local restaurant that people know that provided great service and great food, and it’s a nostalgic name for the Birmingham culinary scene,” Heide said. “To have that as a part of our development is really a great step in making Lane Parke what it needs to be.”
When Lane Parke posted a video to its Facebook page in September 2019 announcing Sol Y Luna’s reopening, it created a buzz on social media. The video, featuring Heide and Castro in front of the restaurant, has garnered 8,700 views.
“I am thrilled that Lane Parke has been chosen for the new location of Sol Y Luna,” Lane Parke owner and developer John Evans said in a press release at the time. “Our community will embrace this restaurant not only for the location in Lane Parke, but the reputation of Jorge Castro and his culinary history.”
Castro said he couldn’t believe how enthusiastically Birminghamians greeted the news. Long ago, that would have seemed unfathomable.
Castro and his brothers are from Guadalajara, the capital of Mexico’s Jalisco state that borders the Pacific Ocean. It’s about 45 minutes from the town of Tequila, home of the namesake beverage.
“Maybe that’s why we like tequila,” Castro said. “We grew up in the region.”
Castro and his brothers opened their first restaurant, Si Senor, in Saltillo, Mexico, in the 1980s. It closed after a year in business, Castro said, and the family dispersed. Guillermo eventually found his way to Birmingham, with Castro joining him in 2000 to help him run Sol Y Luna.
The restaurant made a name for itself with its one-of-a-kind tapas dishes, such as the lobster taco, and flavorful margaritas. Castro said Sol Y Luna’s new menu will retain about 80% of its original identity, with dishes such as Sabana Mexicana — beef tenderloin with chihuahua cheese and chipotle chutney — reappearing.
The restaurant also will carry between 35 to 40 tequilas, at minimum.
“The idea is to explain how tequila is made, what … different tequilas are, and let people decide, ‘Oh, I like this kind of tequila,’” Castro said.
Sol Y Luna’s new space includes a full-service bar, outdoor patio and seating for up to 106 people. Castro originally targeted a December opening, but that was delayed to February due to the interior renovations. A new chapter in the restaurant’s history will begin when it welcomes its first customers. The past, however, will not be forgotten. Neither will the man who started it all.
“It’s an honor. Because of Guillermo, we met a lot of people in Birmingham that we created really good relationships [with],” Castro said.
For more information about Sol Y Luna, visit solylunabham.com or call 205-407-4797.