BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. (NEWS10) — 42 Fusion, a Mexican and Italian fusion restaurant, has opened in Ballston Spa. The eatery had its soft opening on May 22.

For owners Alicia Halse and Tino Lopez, this is their first restaurant venture. Lopez is the chef while Halse runs front-of-house operations. They began working to open the restaurant in January.

Lopez moved to the United States from Mexico in 2006. He’s worked in several Saratoga Springs restaurants including Forno Bistro and Three Vines Bistro. Halse is also local to Saratoga Springs.

“I wanted to do something different in my life,” said Lopez. “I’m not going to say it’s easy. It’s easy when you’re working for somebody but I don’t want to stay under pressure from somebody.”

“Be your own boss,” said Halse.

The menu includes a mix of Mexican and Italian dishes including tacos, Mexican Lasagna, gnocchi, Chicken Milanese, ahi tuna, and filet mignon. You can view the full menu on the 42 Fusion website.

The owners are still waiting on the liquor license, which they hope will arrive in mid-June. After that, they’ll have a full bar with beer, wine, margaritas and cocktails.

“For the first night, it was busy,” said Halse. “We wanted to do the soft opening for Ballston Spa first. Then the grand opening is hopefully going to bring people from Saratoga and farther and bring them to Ballston Spa.”

42 Fusion is located at 42 Front Street in the former Sunset Café space. That restaurant closed in November 2021 after 10 years.

The eatery is currently open every day from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., but those hours may change in the future. The restaurant is also hiring experienced front-of-house staff. 42 Fusion is open for dine-in and take-out. You can call the restaurant to place an order at (518) 490-2030.