Favorite Cafe Closes After 23 Years On The Town Green

WINDSOR, CA — The announcement on Thursday was sudden and sad: Cafe Noto in Windsor would be closing — and soon.

Cafe Noto, a longtime fixture on the Windsor Town Green known for its reliable wifi, neighborhood regulars, and community gatherings, will close Jan. 31 after its operator was unable to secure a new lease.

Owner Josie Ortega announced the decision this week, saying negotiations with the landlords stretched nearly a year before the cafe received a 60-day notice to vacate.

"It is with great sadness that we share this news today," Ortaga said in a note to customers that circulated on social media."After almost a year of negotiations, we were unable to secure a new lease on Cafe Noto and will be officially closing January 31st," Ortega wrote.

Ortega said her five-year lease expired in November 2025. She had been operating on a month-to-month lease since the expiration, until she was told to vacate in late December.

The closing will end the run of an independently owned cafe and served as a local hub for more than two decades — one of relatively few remaining compared to just a decade ago.

Noto stood on the Windsor Town Green for 23 years, but closed briefly during the onslaught of Covid. Ortega reopened the shuttered cafe during the pandemic and quickly resumed its role as host to wifi hounds, book clubs, cyclists, business meetings, and student study sessions.

The decor changed from a casual, open floor with worn wood tables — sometimes rearranged by customers — to a boxy grid of aluminum and birch-hued wood. But the cafe remained a local favorite.

"This is where we come," said Nancy Barnacle, one of four women who meet at Cafe Noto to catch up and chat. "It's right on the green. It's friendly. The coffee is good. They have burritos. And they kept their prices reasonable," Barnacle said. "It's sad when things you really like leav."

"It's the last cafe here," said Donna San Filippo, who lives within walking distance. She said he used to stop in after biking for a coffee.

The women were meeting sitting on the patio overlooking the town green, probably their last visit before the cafe closes.

Ortega tried to negotiate a new lease. But the landlords either told them to wait or didn't respond at all, according to the report.

Then Cafe Noto got a 60-day notice to vacate.

The original owners, Steve and Margaret McCabe, told reporters that the move not to renew again was a necessary business decision.

The new business, Grey Squirrel Manor, will open sometime in the spring, according to the website.
Information is scarce about what provisions a manor on the square will be providing.

But the sleek marketing seems to be in keeping with the closing of a 2,132-square-foot, single-family home for $910,000, reported by The Press Democrat. The sale set the current ceiling, but other homes have been closing in the high six figures, according to the report.

Ortega's 13 employees will be welcomed at her Rohnert Park restaurant Chila-killer cafe or a new Santa Rosa venture, the Dolce Rosa Cafe, an employee said. Others have found jobs with another Rohnert Park cafe.

Ortega said she will be at Cafe Noto as often as possible before the Jan. 31 closing "to say goodbye to all of you properly and be with my magnificent staff."