Grand old opening
Chico’s Chevy’s is history. Tim Bousquet saw it coming. A few years ago the publisher of the Chico Examiner predicted that the gaudy Mexican restaurant whose owners poured millions into refurbishing the old bank building it sat in would soon close its doors forever. His timing was a little off, but his vision did eventually come true. As a tribute to Tim, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the new McDonald’s-owned fast-burrito restaurant going up on the corner of Mangrove and Vallombrosa will close someday. Ditto the new Krispy Kreme donut store out on restaurant row in east Chico; someday it will shut down and be vacant for a while, and then some other business will move in. Mark my words.
Speaking of which, I reported in this column last week that Sam’s House of Hofbrau looks like it’s closed for good. Maybe not. This week we received from Sam’s the form for local restaurants we use to update our upcoming Visitor Guide. Sam’s form said change nothing, suggesting the downtown eatery is still open for business. The phone service is still connected, but the computerized voice of an answering machine is all you get when you call.
Another church is interested in buying one of Chico’s movie theaters and turning it into a house of worship. If the Senator Theater is sold, this would mark the third time for such a transition. I’d like to see a variation on this trend. I’d like to see a movie theater buy the Neighborhood Church and install a five-screen complex in the golden dome out by the highway; or better yet see DNA of the Right Now Foundation, the group that tried so hard to get the Senator, buy the Neighborhood Church and turn it into a community theater. Wouldn’t that be something?
Moved into a new neighborhood recently. When I was first checking out the house, a few weeks ago, a calico cat sat on the back fence and checked me out. The night I moved in, I saw that cat again, eyeballing me from the neighbor’s driveway. The next morning there was a gift neatly placed on the back porch—a dead mouse. A feline welcome wagon. Now I feel like part of the neighborhood.