Down to a T

This time of year, one of my favorite places to be is T. Tea Bar & Fusion Café. Actually, up until this year, I still called the restaurant by its former name, Teaz Me, an indication that my fanaticism is long-lived.

I finally realized that I needed to relent and start referring to T. Bar as such when I heard that owners Shelley and Lance Blanshei were opening a second Chico location. I felt as though as I was denying T. Bar’s success and not recognizing its evolution over the past eight years by continually harking back to the past. It’s sort of like how, after seeing The Departed, I stopped calling Mark Wahlberg “Marky Mark.”

The Blansheis have been mainstays in Chico’s food and beverage business for years, once owning Bidwell Perk, before launching Teaz Me, which evolved into T Bar. Their latest venture, an expansion in southeast Chico, opened last month and business has been booming. Though many businesses are still climbing out of the recession, T. Bar’s unique menu—featuring blended, sparkling and brewed tea beverages and fresh Asia-inspired fare like wraps and teriyaki bowls—has paved the way for growth in otherwise challenging times. Lance Blanshei said he is expecting to add at least 35 new part-time jobs to the workforce as a result of the expansion.

Yet there is perhaps a more compelling outcome from the opening of the new location: The change at the corner of Forest Avenue and Flying V Street, where the new T. Bar is located, is striking. The bold colors of the restaurant’s signage have certainly brightened up the block. In addition, over the last few weeks, an energy has emerged that transforms the area.

Blanshei described the location as previously being a “very sleepy, subdued strip mall.” I couldn’t agree more. There was nothing noteworthy about the space.

Not so now. On an average afternoon, you’ll find people sitting out on the spacious patio and you can’t help but be drawn in. It is a complete revitalization.

People often talk about events or art pieces as being place-makers. Businesses can have the same effect. Chico has seen a similar shift in other locations, such as the block between Sixth and Seventh streets on Broadway that’s home to the Tin Roof Bakery and Nantucket Home. The once drab downtown stretch is now inviting and has anchored the area for future businesses.

I’m betting the same will happen around the new T. Bar location and look forward to seeing businesses pop up there, building on the energy in the area.

If you haven’t checked out the new spot, a ribbon-cutting is planned for today, May 15, at 5:30 p.m. at 555 Flying V #1. Grab a tea—you can never go wrong with the Chocolate Chai Frost or blackberry lemonade—and keep watch on that block. I’m certain it will continue to blossom over the next few years.