Saturday, September 17, 2011

Mile 13660 : @PintsQuarts @CFPrime @DockersFishHous folks want to open restaurant in Tony's Bistro, but ...

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We are down a few classic Muskegon restaurants, and this week House of Chan threw in the towel, ostensibly due to the owner's retirement. I noticed one of the House of Chan's beautiful bartenders behind bar at Handsome Henry's months ago. It is one of those tokens that are rarely wrong. We have lived inside the post Muskegon Athletic Club aftermath for months now, with no rumors of new life. And all this in a town with a major culinary school turning out new chefs? I cannot but help to reflect upon the tragedy visited upon the family of El Camino, and I wish all the house's efforts to freshen up their space had met with a bigger population of diners. I stopped eating lunch there because it was so empty, I atracted too much attention. Only the Station is robust on the Broadway cooridor. The Edgewater Grill has reopened under new owners, again, but it looks as if the dinner crowd isn't worth their pursuit. I have heard rumors of a November opening in the Tony's Bistro space due to a fired chef after a dispute over vision. So we are waiting for Muskegon again. Luckily, if my information serves me right, a Merrill Lynch financial expert will be leading a seminar in the old Tony's Bistro next week. I am thinking of signing up just so I can sit in the beautiful space again. I just got the message on Muskegon's Renaissance Zones this week and I am aghast that I could have lived for free for the last four years at Watermark, the Art-Lofts in the boiler factory or Amazon Apartments. These credits are now on phase out, if I read correctly, gone by 2015. And the lofts in the old Hackley Bank building incomplete and the condos along Clay street are a ghost town. I have not noticed a sign of occupants. How to combat so many downward trends as winter sets its lockdown? I am glad of the strength of Harbor Hospitality and the house of Lister, the @HStoneBistro people. Their good management ensures I have a place to go for a nice meal as cold sets its dominance. Grateful for Fatty Lumpkin, where I am greeted like family and Brett + Jera's family daily renew the welcoming, fresh atmosphere..

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