The entrance to the former Carino’s Italian restaurant on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026.
Two of Albany’s more prominent restaurants have been closed for a while, and what happens at their respective locations remains unclear at this time.
Carino’s Italian restaurant on Geary Street near Heritage Mall closed at the end of September. Ping’s Garden Chinese restaurant, at Ninth Avenue and Oak Street, has been closed for weeks and was still being remodeled this week.
Ping’s Garden opened in 1983 and was enlarged in 1995. Carino’s opened in 2008.
On Facebook, someone claimed to have seen an online reference to Ola Crab, a seafood restaurant that recently opened in Woodburn, planning to open in the Ping’s building. I called the Woodburn restaurant but could not get any confirmation.
A reader said he had seen a notice about a coming cajun seafood joint on Ping’s front door, but when I looked on Thursday the notice was gone.
A few blocks to the east on Geary Street, a notice on the door said Carino’s was permanently closed. The notice referred questions to the Restaurant Development Company of America in Bend.
Bill Powel, the firm’s VP of operations, didn’t answer why Carino’s closed and referred a question about the building’s future to Heritage Mall. The mall said it does not control the building, owned by something called Ticorp LLC, which has a Beaverton address but no listed phone number.
The Linn County assessor has posted property tax bills for this year. For the site formerly occupied by Carino’s, this year’s bill is about $34,000. For the Ping’s property, owned by Pings Inc., the tax bill is about $14,300.
With tax bills coming due, one hopes the buildings won’t stay unused for long. (hh)
This notice was still on the door Thursday.
The fountain on Carino’s patio still had a bit of water in it on Thursday.
I shot this photo of construction at the Ping’s Garden restaurant on Sept. 28, 2026.
Dining and Cooking