As a new co-owner of Sunset Cantina, Catarina Chang (SHA’11) wants to bring the Comm Ave restaurant back to life. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi

Food & Dining

Sunset Cantina Reopens, with an Alum a Co-owner

Catarina Chang (SHA’11) says the Mexican eatery’s “fun vibe” remains

Sunset Cantina is back. And in a big way, with a BU alum now in charge.

The Mexican restaurant at 916 Comm Ave, long a popular meeting spot for the University community, reopened just before Christmas with the familiar decor and “fun vibe” intact, says Catarina Chang (SHA’11), along with “elevated” food that’s more authentically Mexican than the previous Tex-Mex fare.

“We don’t serve lettuce on our tacos,” Chang says with a smile. She’s the catering and events coordinator—and also one of four owners.

A graduate of the School of Hospitality Administration—which, no coincidence, is in the same block—Chang is a success story. She is the serial entrepreneur behind Koy, a decade-old Korean fusion restaurant on North Street, close to Faneuil Hall, plus the Doggy Port, a doggy day care in East Boston, where she lives. She also owns a digital marketing company that grew out of her efforts on behalf of those businesses.

Now she’s breathing new life into the Cantina, a favorite haunt of hers beginning when she lived on West Campus as a first-year student and later when she returned for concerts at the Paradise.

“I went to school one door away, and I know how great this spot can be,” says Chang, who grew up in Boxford, Mass. “In its prime, it was crazy packed.” 

Now you’ll find her and her team dishing out beef birria, a spicy stewed meat, in tacos and quesadillas, along with an assortment of ceviches, enchiladas, flautas, and tortas. The drinks menu boasts both Colombian and Mexican versions of the Michelada, a spicy drink made with beer and tomato juice, in addition to half a dozen margaritas and cocktails like the Mexican Mule (blanco tequila, lime juice, and ginger beer). There are many tequilas behind the bar, a bunch of craft beers on tap, and Modelo Negra in the bottle.

For Cantina veterans, there are also Tex-Mex staples like taco salads, fajitas, and a longtime favorite that the regulars demanded remain unchanged on the menu. 

“We got some pushback on changing the nachos, we were getting emails, it was a huge thing,” she says and laughs. “We caved!”

While Chang is the face of the ownership team, she has three partners, all friends from the dining scene in East Boston: La Hacienda restaurant executive chef Jason Bautista and owner Aldo Callejas and Kilder Cardona, owner of Barney’s Grill. They hired Carlos Alvarenga, formerly of the acclaimed Masa in the South End, as the executive chef.

Sunset Cantina had long been a fave of BU students, faculty, and staff when the owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017. East Coast Tavern Group acquired the restaurant in 2018, but after weathering the pandemic, the Cantina shut down for good in 2022. Chang wasn’t exactly looking to run a Mexican joint, but when she heard it was available, she and her friends took a look, then sat down at a pizza place across Comm Ave, she says, and decided, “Let’s do it.” 

As she talked about her plans on a recent January afternoon, a steady stream of hopeful customers entered, only to be told, “We open at four.” Chang hopes to open for lunch daily as soon as February.

It would be unwise to bet against her success. She’s been working in the industry since she was 14. After graduating from BU, she put her bachelor of science in hospitality management to use right away, stepping directly into a management position in a Seaport eatery owned by the Briar Group.

“When you are 21, you don’t know what you’re doing,” she says with a smile. “Everyone I was managing was five or six years older than me.”

She thought she had to be tough, but learned that empathy, understanding, and hard work are more important. “I had to grow up a lot in that job,” she says. “I will get down on my knees and clean that drain myself, and people respect you for it.”

Her parents emigrated from Korea in their teens and built a gallery and frame shop business in Andover. Their work ethic passed down to their daughter. After just a few years in various industry jobs, Chang decided to open her own restaurant with her father. They put in long hours, for no pay at first, but Koy has been a success since it launched, despite having to lay off employees and going take-and-delivery-only during the pandemic.

“Catarina has so many skills, and she loves what she does,” says Leora Lanz (COM’87), an SHA associate professor of the practice and assistant dean of academic affairs.

Lanz hadn’t yet arrived at BU when Chang was a student, but they’re in touch often now. Chang has spoken to SHA classes and offered Koy as a test case for student projects. Sunset Cantina is next.

“She’s got a smile that lights up this place, but she’s a serious businessperson,” Lanz says. “I think she’s an amazing role model for everybody in this school, because she’s diversified in so many ways and she’s successful at it. But particularly for the young women from different parts of Asia, who may not have thought of themselves as entrepreneurial necessarily, here’s a woman who can really influence them.”

People at SHA were waiting eagerly for Sunset Cantina to reopen, Lanz says, “and when we found out it was her, we were over the moon.” 

“I want to bring back the essence of what made it so popular,” Chang says. “That’s why we didn’t change the decor or concept. We just polished it up.”

Sunset Cantina, 916 Commonwealth Ave., Brookline; 617-208-8427. Open daily 4 pm until midnight, 2 am Friday and Saturday. Kitchen closes at midnight.