Cedro Ristorante Italiano in downtown Menlo Park closed over the holidays. Owners of the adjacent Cafe Borrone have posted a request for an alcoholic beverage permit in the window of the space the Italian restaurant occupied at Menlo Center, 1010 El Camino Real in Menlo Park.

Cedro Ristorante, operated by the Nevigato family of Menlo Park, opened in 2009, replacing Palermo restaurant. The space has been the site of several restaurants.

Unconfirmed reports say Borrone's will remodel the Cedro site and incorporate it into the cafe. Remodeling will take several months, with an estimated spring opening.

Cafe Borrone, next to Kepler's bookstore, is Menlo Park's most popular gathering place. Roy Borrone opened the coffee house/restaurant in Redwood City in 1979, and later moved it to Menlo Park. Its sunny patio in the Menlo Center plaza is crowded with patrons in all seasons, and the line to order meals is often out the door.

The cafe is now co-owned by Marina Borrone and Chef Josh Pebbles, who has been working at the restaurant since he was 18.