"11217" writes: "City Lighting has a sign up that says Closed for
Renovations. Why would you renovate a place that is so new? Looks closed
to me."
UPDATE 10:02 am: Out running errands, DH caught this crew "renovating" all of CL’s furniture into this moving van. Are they going to reopen? "No, just closed forever," one of the moving guys said. "I don’t know why."
UPDATE 1:50 pm: "Friend of a friend" confirmation from Stargirl: "They weren’t making enough money. Sad."
I’m not too surprised. The place never exactly thrived.
I was there once when it opened and it was ok but then I went again and it was really good.
If it is really closed I am DEFINITELY surprised.
I was always iffy about that place. Let’s open a used bookstore in that space. Anyone?
That’s too bad. I enjoyed it when it first opened, but the food was very unpredictable from visit to visit.
That’s too bad. It was such a handy location. But they never did really get it together. The menu kept changing, the food was uneven, and I’m convinced that I got mild food poisoning there once. It didn’t really have much personality because they kept changing everything.
Maybe they’re just totally redecorating in the hope of having a little personality?
I hope something else goes in there, anyway.
A little background. A friend of mine tried to rent the space (couple years ago or so) in order to open a classy neighborhood bar/eatery with an emphasis on neighborhood and cheap. I’ve seen his place in Chicago and was sooo looking forward to the same here (it would have been great). Starbucks outbid him and I assumed they had won the space. Next thing I know City Lighting was renovating the space. From what I know, they paid waaaay too much for rent–there’s no way they were going to make it with that overhead burden. Too bad; it was a “plus” for the neighborhood even if it never got itself established.
Used bookstore? Nice idea but great way to lose more money! I’d love to see a Chipotle (healthy and fresh burritos/Mexican at a great price) in that space.
i’m not surprised at all. the bar was too open, not the cozy neighborhood feel that seems to do well around here (i.e. Soda, Half, Freddie’s). the food was fine, but the service often sucked. i was there two weeks ago, and walked out before my entree came. the bartender and the waiter were obviously having some kind of spat, and we, the customers, had to put up with the effects of their bad moods. (we left and went to Soda for some good bar food and smiling bartenders…)
Not surprised really. I had such high hopes for it when it opened…but it’s so big, the service was really slow and the food was just plain bad (and I’m hardly a picky person). My girlfriend and I gave it three chances, always wishing it would get better because it seemed to have promise, but it just never did.