The building at 1439 Queen Ave. SW housed Ralph’s Place, a little restaurant, back in the day.
One address on Queen Avenue across from the old Bureau of Mines in Albany will look different in times to come if public records are any indication.
The building at 1439 Queen SW, across from the entrance to the National Energy Technology Laboratory, is likely to disappear and be replaced by something residential. The 10,000-square-foot lot is zoned R-6, which the Albany Development Code says is “intended primarily for low-density urban residential development that includes single dwelling units, townhouses, and middle housing (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and cottage clusters).”
Weeks ago a reader asked me about what was happening with the former restaurant building. He also was curious about the former gas station down the street at Queen and Broadway Street.
When I got off the bike and looked at both places on Oct. 5, the former restaurant at 1439 was still there. But it had been closed and locked up for a long time.
For many years it was Ralph’s Place, a funky little restaurant where on summer mornings, my wife and I occasionally enjoyed breakfast outdoors on the sidewalk.
I don’t remember when the place closed. It was still there on Christmas Eve 2007, when Alex Paul reported in the Democrat-Herald that Ralph’s would be open and serving full holiday dinners on Christmas Day, as it had done for more than a decade. The price that year: $8.95.
In April this year, Moises and Elaine Moreno of Albany bought the property for $285,000. In May, Joel Moreno applied for an Albany permit for the “complete demolition of the restaurant.” The permit was approved in July.
What about the old gas station down the street? The station is at 1645 Queen, on the same tax lot as the GPS Market, a convenience store.
The Chevron signage is still up, but the station has sold no gas for 20 years or more. From time to time in recent years, the former station building housed other businesses.
When I checked on Oct. 5, the station was empty. A sheriff’s notice in the window said the property owner, Nabih Khoury of Happy Valley, in the Portland area, had evicted the last occupant back in February 2025.
What happens there next? I don’t know, but you’d think after all these years, the owner would at least remove the out-of-date Chevron sign. (hh)
The pumps are long gone at this former Chevron station at 1645 Queen Ave. SW.
Thanks for the reporting, Mr. Hering. My wife and I live in the neighborhood and were hoping the new owners were going to re-open the old Ralph’s Place as a coffee shop. The dilapidated Tangent Coffee sign out front has been a tease since we moved to the area a few years ago.
The coffee sign seems to still have some juice in it. On these cold, foggy autumn mornings you can see the neon OPEN letters on the east side of the sign faintly blinking, giving the place an eery vibe.
Thanks for the information, Hasso.
Thanks for the update on this! Sounds like they will end up demolishing that building to build more housing. Hopefully in the near future!
So glad to see the old Ralph’s being torn down.
But for the old CHEVRON, it would be amazing to have a little Antique/Yard ornament business. Good luck deciding!
I lived on Fern Place, just around the corner from Ralphs in the 1980s and 1990s We would walk around the corner and have dinner. Nothing fancy, but good food. Sorry it can’t house another business but the building has seen it’s days. Look forward to what will happen next.
Informative as always. I remember eating at Ralph’s many years ago. A cute little place. Thanks for the memories, yes I’m old enough to give a nod to Bob Hope.