Hitting the new Towne Lounge

When I first moved to Chico back in 2006, I wanted to shoot pool and have a couple of beers to try to meet people and I found myself at the Towne Lounge playing a game with the bartender, Meagen. I was passably good, so she offered me a spot on her women’s league team. We’re still teammates today, and I’m confident we’d still be playing at the Scrounge if it hadn’t closed.

I spent a lot of time at the Towne Lounge and was sad to see it go. Turns out the owner, Woody Sjostrom, gave downtown restaurateur Will Brady the old sign—until recently, it graced the patio at B Street Public House—and now it hangs inside his third bar/eatery, Bill’s Towne Lounge. (Brady tells me that while he doesn’t go by “Bill,” it is his namesake.)

“The Towne Lounge is an icon that needs to always be in Chico,” he said. I agree. And I once again found myself seated at the TL bar last Friday (Oct. 5) during its soft opening (it’s now a few blocks up Main Street, between First and Second).

First things first, Brady set out to create a dive bar and he certainly accomplished that. With low lighting and loud, lounge-y music—the soundtrack playing while I was there was killer—the vibe is definitively less pub than B Street or The Banshee. It’s also swankier than the old TL, so you probably won’t find as many blue collars in there. There’s a full bar, plus a kitchen—I tried the fried chicken sandwich and, aside from being a bit messy, it was awesome.

Brady says he’s trying to emulate L.A.’s “emergent chicken culture” at Bill’s, just as he aimed to elevate the hamburger at The Banshee. Expect the menu—and the hours—to expand over the coming weeks. For now, it’s open Thursday-Saturday.

Groceries in Paradise Last month, plans for a new Safeway at the junction of Black Olive Drive and Skyway cleared a major hurdle, as the Planning Commission granted its conditional use and tree-felling permits. The project, dubbed Black Olive Village, requires the removal of over 180 trees and must adhere to 42 conditions, Craig Baker, community development director, told me.

The project is pretty massive, so I was surprised that a Google search yielded zero news coverage of it. The village consists of 67,473 square feet of retail, 54,471 of which will be a 24-hour Safeway. There will be a nine-pump gas station, plus a restaurant pad. The existing Safeway, on Clark Road, will close. The lack of a sewer system in Paradise set the project back—it will also include its own on-site wastewater treatment system.

Dressing students This Sunday (Oct. 14), from 6-9 p.m., Chico Mall’s JCPenney will be closed to the public while it offers some major discounts for Chico State students (with valid ID). It’s part of a “Suit Up” campaign meant to help college students dress for success. If you don’t know how to tie a tie, they’ll even teach you!