Hello! And what's with all those empty storefronts on Solano?

Just what you needed! A new feature here on Patch covering the state of business, shops, restaurants, and commerce in and around Albany. I'll focus mainly on Solano and San Pablo but will gladly seep over into El Cerrito and into North Berkely and maybe as far south as University Avenue and west toward Gilman-land. That is, wherever Albany folk are likely to think of going to shop or eat.

No dense long-form reporting here, just morsels of information and news about who's coming, who's going, what's new, what's cool, and what you should definitely check out. I'm motivated by nothing more than my inherent nosiness and curiosity. I mean, aren't we all interested in who's moving into that empty storefront?

And there are a lot of empty storefronts. The economy recovers but not everyone makes it. Yet many see opportunity. It's fascinating to watch people take a risk, and these days running a business or opening a restaurant is nothing if not risky.

So, my first question, what's up with Liu's Kitchen? I've been out of town for a week and come back to see the windows all papered up. Remodeling? Leaving? Liu's is where my kids used to go when they needed to eat enough for three people at half the cost of one. Mounds and mounds of food, kind of gloppy and kind of tasty. Never a highbrow place, anomalously funky for the area, but it's been there for years. I'll try to find out, or does someone out there already know?