Clematis Street Blog
Mar 14, 2010, Yankee Dog Almost ReadyThis weekend the papers were removed from the windows and nice new signs appeared for the new Yankee Dog eating establishment to be opening up on the corner of Clematis St. (500 block) and Rosemary Avenue, across from the 610 Clematis condominium. An American flag has been painted on the ceiling and the inside looks pretty good though not quite completely finished. The sign says "Buns, Links, and Drinks" suggesting, well, hot dogs. The sign also says 24/7 breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Since I can't imagine having a hot dog for breakfast, presumably this place will offer other foods as well. I heard that the owner is committed to trying out being open 24 hours, similar to the Don Ramon's walk-up window. Sounds like a great thing for the block. There has always been a lot of late-night activity around the bars like O'Sheas and this will provide one more reason to make a stop inbetween City Place and the more active 200/300 blocks of Clematis Street. Not sure yet exactly when the grand opening will occur, but this should be a great addition to the rapidly changing 500 block of Clematis. On a side note, the Irish Fest was a huge success this weekend, with perfect weather drawing large crowds to the Meyer Amphitheater and the surrounding Clematis waterfront. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Yankee Dog Almost Ready" Mar 13, 2010, Bahamamama's et al.The place under construction on the corner of Clematis and Dixie (formerly a City Events office) just put up a sign revealing what's coming in there: Bahama Mama's Island Bar and Grille. Looks like a good idea, given that the blocks around it have Italian, Irish, Cuban, Mexican, French, and American restaurants but nothing yet with a Caribbean theme. On another unrelated note, someone has started a website called www.aguyonclematis.com. It doesn't contain written descriptions like this site, but it has extensive and regularly updated large-size photos of happenings on and around Clematis Street. It's great to see another up-to-date site devoted to Clematis Street. Not much else going on, other than the waterfront being slowly overtaken by the preparations for the huge Boat Show taking place a few weeks from now. One of the stores in the new city parage garage on the 500 block is now papered over, indicating some work going on there at the home of (I believe) a future shoe store. Some of the smaller new businesses on the 500 block, somewhat surprisingly, seem to be doing quite well, with customers seen on a regular basis (i.e. such as the new cellphone store, the new shoe repair store, and Clematis Pizza). Reef Road & Rum Bar, which has been struggling a bit, is making some changes, adding more live music and events in an effort to improve business. Finally, another little business center seems to be forming on the 100 block of Datura just west of E.R. Bradley's, with the new Gratify restaurant, a new style store just opened, and what appears to be a fishing/sports store of some kind coming in soon. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Bahamamama's et al." Mar 1, 2010, Waterfront One Week After OpeningToday (Sunday February 28th) was a sunny but cool day, and I walked out to the new Clematis Street waterfront in the middle of the afternoon to see how many people were there. The opening celebration is long gone; would people still be coming out to enjoy the new waterfront? The answer, a definitive YES. This (a normal day) seems to be the real mark of success for the new waterfront. The last seven pictures in the attached link were taken on this normal day, and you can see a nice mix of families, kids, retirees, dogs, and just people in general, enjoying the new facilities on a beautiful day in South Florida. I overheard a woman speaking on her cellphone in Spanish telling someone else how it was "tan preciosa." Permalink -- click for full blog post "Waterfront One Week After Opening" Feb 25, 2010, Restaurant NewsNo I don't have any news on the future Coral Reefer Raw Bar on Olive near Clematis. The only thing I know is that I've seen it listed on those DDA newsletter updates for (it seems) at least a year now, so it seems like one that has been on the pending list for quite some time, and I haven't seen any activity to indicate that there is anything close to opening there. I'm not familiar with any Jimmy Buffett connection, but I thought that the name was also quite similar to the Reef Road & Rum Bar around the corner on Clematis. In other restaurant news, Off The Hookah seems to be taking quite a while to construct, with work still going on, but the inside still looking not even close to ready. The stated opening of spring 2010 in that DDA newsletter doesn't seem likely at this point, though still possible. There was an agenda item for this week's WPB City Commission meeting concerning an issue which hopefully was resolved, and this could have been part of the reason for the hold-up. There is apparently some city rule limiting drinking establishments on this block where there are already two just across the street, and the city needed some assurances that Off The Hookah would be open and serving food for both lunch and dinner, rather than operating exclusively as a nightclub. On other (slow) restaurant development news, there has also been no visible progress on the Soma vegan place slated to open just around the corner from Don Ramon's. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Restaurant News" Feb 25, 2010, Coral Reefer Raw Bar?I just read in the DDA newsletter that The Coral Reefer Raw Bar and Grill is opening on Olive (so close to Clematis, that it qualifies for your blog). Permalink -- click for full blog post "Coral Reefer Raw Bar?" Feb 24, 2010, Clematis Street waterfrontClematis Street waterfront Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Street waterfront" Feb 23, 2010, Cuillo Theatre R.I.P.The sign on the Cuillo Theatre on the eastern side of the 200 block (which for a long time now has had an advertisement for Forte restaurant) was changed to read "For sale". And, the windows are now all covered with paper. What first was simply a closing for the summer (last summer) appears to have turned into a permanent closing. If this is really for sale, what a great opportunity it is for someone, right in front of the new waterfront. It would seem, however, that it would be difficult to use that building for anything other than a theater, without a major renovation. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Cuillo Theatre R.I.P." Feb 22, 2010, Clematis Street WaterfrontClematis Street waterfront Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Street Waterfront" Feb 21, 2010, Clematis Waterfront Open!The new Clematis Street waterfront officially opened on Saturday night with a huge waterfront party. City officials had estimated 20,000 people would attend, but that estimate was far surpassed, with more than 100,000 people attending. No one could have imagined how many people would turn out for this thing, and it was well worth it. The general consensus seems to be that the new waterfront is awesome. Of course, one grand opening party cannot portend what will happen going forward on a day-to-day basis when things settle down. However, if Sunday (the next day) was any indication, this waterfront is going to cause Clematis Street to quadruple in popularity. Sunday is normally a very quiet day on Clematis, but instead this Sunday there were large numbers of people strolling throughout the waterfront area throughout the afternoon, and the businesses on the 100, 200, and 300 blocks were jam-packed. A number of the restaurants have scaled back their hours on Sunday due to limited business, but they are going to have to re-evaluate their schedules if this Sunday was any indication. What an incredible weekend it was in downtown West Palm Beach! We will be closely monitoring this situation over the coming weeks to report back on whether this incredible influx has more lasting impact on the street -- only time will tell, but what a beginning! Walkingclematis took a bunch of pictures and we'll be putting them up on our waterfront page (click below) so those who haven't had a chance to see this yet can get a feeling for what's going on there. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Waterfront Open!" Feb 17, 2010, Waterfront Project Fence Coming DownToday the construction fence that has surrounded the waterfront project for almost one year came down (at least three quarters of it came down). The western portion of the fence (the part facing the rest of Clematis Street) is still there, but the eastern, southern, and northern sections are all gone. This apparently means that it's no longer a construction zone, and people can walk in there for the first time. Of course, the big grand opening celebration is scheduled for this Saturday afternoon and evening. But as of today, it's already possible to walk in there and see what it looks like. Things are looking good, though I'm still waiting for that last part of the fence to come down in order to get the whole impact of the new look from Clematis Street. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Waterfront Project Fence Coming Down" Feb 16, 2010, Gratify Open! Clematis Pizza Open!It was a relatively quiet day on Clematis Street with the President's Day holiday, but two restaurants chose the day for their increasingly popular "soft openings". Gratify, the much-anticipated gastro-pub just off the 100 block of Clematis (on Datura) was open when I walked by at lunch time, with doors open and a nice small menu posted out front (seemed like primarily appetizers with a very informal atmosphere). Then, at dinner time, Clematis Pizza was open, also with doors open, on the 500 block of Clematis (this space was previously occupied by De Napoli's). Both restaurants open up just in time for the grand opening of the Clematis Street waterfront this weekend. Another interesting note -- awnings have been popping up all over the place in front of Clematis Street businesses, in too many new places to even mention. The look of the street is really getting better and better on a daily basis. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Gratify Open! Clematis Pizza Open!" Feb 14, 2010, Demolition of 1515 Condo TowerThis morning the 30-story 1515 S. Flagler Drive condo building, after years of preparation and discussion, was imploded in a matter of seconds. This may have been the tallest thinnest building ever imploded in this manner, so it was truly uncharted territory. Unbelievably, the demolition went down without a hitch; it was picture perfect. It's too early to tell if there was any damage to surrounding buildings but it certainly appears that any damage will be extremely minimal. The building fell straight down. Not only that, since the wind was blowing toward the southeast, the huge plume of dust created by the demolition, blew straight out over the intracoastal instead of over any buildings. It went to the south and then crossed over the thin island of Palm Beach toward the ocean (but by that time was largely dissipated). So for anyone living in the immediate downtown West Palm Beach area, there is not even the slighest concern that that possibly-asbestos-prone dust could be floating around our neighborhood. Large crowds turned out to watch the demolition from the bridge between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach (and along the Palm Beach side adjacent to the intracoastal) (click below for a picture of downtown West Palm Beach and the crowds on the bridge, taken from the Palm Beach side of the intracoastal). Permalink -- click for full blog post "Demolition of 1515 Condo Tower" Feb 14, 2010, Downtown West Palm BeachDowntown West Palm Beach Permalink -- click for full blog post "Downtown West Palm Beach" Feb 13, 2010, Willie Butler's Shoe Shine Et. Al.Yet another new business has opened on Clematis Street; well, actually it's a returning business that used to be here three years ago and has now been resurrected. It's Willie Butler's Shoe Shine in the middle of the 300 block (south side). Willie took a hiatus for a "New York adventure" for three years, but now he is back, and sounding very optimistic about the prospects for business going forward at his little perch on Clematis Street. No, it's not a big business (just a portable shoe-shine booth on the sidewalk), but it's so close to the happenings on the street that its return could be a real harbinger of good things on that block. It is clear that foot traffic is increasing around there (primarily due to Don Ramon's and a bunch of other new places) and the good old days are returning along with Willie Butler's Shoe Shine - welcome back Willie! Along with the new shoe repair place a few blocks to the west at the corner of Clematis and Rosemary, Clematis is certainly becoming a good place to come for shoe service. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Willie Butler's Shoe Shine Et. Al." Feb 6, 2010, It's The Season for EventsThere are always more events around Clematis Street in the popular winter months, but this month is filled with the regulars plus a number of new interesting special events. Last weekend, the Susan Komen Race for the Cure drew 20,000 people to Clematis and Flagler Drive, as usual. The Super Clematis By Night for the Super Bowl last Thursday was a huge success, with kids jumping down a long trampoline set up in front of Rocco's Tacos/Starbucks, plus a great performance from the classic 70s band Jefferson Starship at Meyer Amphitheater, and large crowds as well. Next weekend (unless it has been delayed again), the 1515 Tower just south of downtown may be coming down in a spectacular demolition (very rare for such a tall building). The weekend after that, of course, the City of West Palm Beach's huge celebration and grand opening for the new waterfront, which is looking almost complete now (all the grass and landscaping seems to be in place, but still blocked from view by the construction fences). The weekend after that, two regular annual events, India Fest and Super Car Weekend, will be taking place on the same day. Permalink -- click for full blog post "It's The Season for Events" Feb 6, 2010, Downtown Looking UpMcCormick and Schmick's (City Place) was already open for a charity event on Friday night, and may have a grand opening of sorts tonight (Saturday), although official opening to the general public is Monday. Skytop 365 (Roxy's roof) is now open for dining as well. Looks like good progress is being made at the future site of new restaurant Gratify (100 block Datura). I also just heard that the construction at the old Ray's Downtown Blues on the 500 block of Clematis Street is for a new seafood restaurant, Longhorn (?) Seafood. Also around the corner from the 500 block on Rosemary Avenue, it looks like a shoe repair shop is on the verge of opening. On the flip side, Carousel Can Can Cafe is gone from City Place. Last but not least, in a bit of novelty news, the building with ugly pink color on Rosemary Avenue adjacent to the 610 Clematis condominium is being repainted in much more pleasant beige-yellow tones which almost mesh with the 610 building, so it might even look a bit more like a modern condominium (although the reality for the neighborhood is that it's a rehab center). Permalink -- click for full blog post "Downtown Looking Up" Feb 5, 2010, Carousel Can Can Cafe Closed DownThe French Carousel Can Can Cafe in City Place, which just opened in August 2009, shut down yesterday. Now the windows are pasted over and the signs are being taken down. City Place said they are working on an exciting new concept for the huge space left vacant by this restaurant/entertainment venue. Although it's surprising to see such a sudden demise, I'm sure it was in the works for awhile. Some places just don't catch on. They did have some customers, but not nearly enough to pay for that huge space that they occupy. The difference in crowds between that place, and the surrounding restaurants like City Cellar and Taverna Opa, was painfully obvious. It's too bad the area has to have a vacant spot of such large size for a few months, but given City Place's track record, I'm sure they'll find something better in very little time. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Carousel Can Can Cafe Closed Down" Feb 2, 2010, McCormick & SchmicksDon't know if it's advertised yet (I'm sure there will be a sign soon), but a little insider information has revealed that McCormick & Schmicks should Permalink -- click for full blog post "McCormick & Schmicks" Jan 30, 2010, Clematis Street DevelopmentsThe new sign for Pizza Luna Bistro Bar was taken down, but it looks like the only problem was the sign, because work continues in that spot next to the thriving Pizza Luna pizza joint. Reef Road Rum & Bar stopped opening for lunch this week. It was still open for dinner, but seems to be attracting less customers than the restaurants around it. Based on the signs around, Roxy's rooftop restaurant, Skytop 365, may be serving food now (a large new sign advertises brunch there this Sunday). Don Ramon's continues to draw massive crowds. The construction area outside the future Off The Hookah club just opened up to reveal a large cavernous alcove (entrance doors have been set back about 15 feet creating a huge outside area in front, a very new look for Clematis Street). Finally, a notice on 340 Clematis Street (corner of Dixie) (formerly a City events office), along with construction going on, indicates it may soon become home to yet another new restaurant. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Street Developments" Jan 30, 2010, Wild Olive Opens! McCormick & Schmicks To Follow SoonThursday night Jan. 28th was opening night for Wild Olive, the new Italian restaurant in the northern end of City Place by chef Todd English. It opens in the same spot previously occupied by the Italian Oven Cafe, with a very similar look inside, but a more upscale menu. Haven't tried it yet, but it's great to have this spot re-occupied so quickly. Also, the construction wall that has been surrounding the future home of the massive new City Place seafood restaurant McCormick & Schmicks, was removed, revealing a nearly completed restaurant -- after a long wait, it looks like this one could open any day now. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Wild Olive Opens! McCormick & Schmicks To Follow Soon" Jan 26, 2010, City-Owned Hotel on 300 blockThis afternoon the City Commission held a special meeting to consider the proposal to convert the Comeau building on the 300 block of Clematis Street into a boutique hotel. Everyone loves the idea of having a boutique hotel there, but it appeared that almost everyone on the Commission and the mayor herself were very concerned about the potentially unknown and unquantified risks that the City would be taking on in such a project. Nothing was decided today, and they agreed to convene a group of hotel and other trusted experts to discuss this further. Something is going to be decided on this in the very near future. But my sense from the meeting is that the commissioners are not comfortable with it and it will be difficult to get them comfortable with it, since no one has a crystal ball regarding where the economy will go. Permalink -- click for full blog post "City-Owned Hotel on 300 block" Jan 24, 2010, Boutique Hotel Coming to 300 block?For several years the owner of the historical Comeau office building on the 300 block of Clematis Street had wanted to convert it into a hotel, but due to its tenuous financial situation and the general financing situation, the project has not progressed. Now the City of West Palm Beach has well-drawn out plans to enter the hotel business itself and issue bonds to finance the hotel. This topic will be the subject of much discussion at a Special City Commission meeting tomorrow Monday January 25th at 2 PM in Commission Chambers at the City Hall in City Center in the 400 block of Clematis Street. If you're interested but cannot attend, you can watch it later on WPBTV18. Also, you can find the write-up desribing the plans being considered, on the City's website at www.wpb.org (click on Meetings & Agendas on the left side to find your way to the latest Commission Meeting agendas). We don't know all the pros and cons yet, but this certainly seems like yet another bold move by the City and the Frankel administration to further improve Clematis Street despite all the negative things happening in the private sector. They will still need to work out how much risk the City should take and whether it's appropriate for the City to get into the hotel business in such a way (though it certainly seems like demand will be there given the entertainment venues in the area coupled with the total lack of hotels near Clematis). Permalink -- click for full blog post "Boutique Hotel Coming to 300 block?" Jan 24, 2010, Clematis Street 300 blockThings are really picking up on the 300 block of Clematis Street, mainly due to the success of the new Don Ramon's restaurant and 24-hour walk-up window. The workers there told me that business has been pretty good, even at odd hours in the middle of the night (especially on weekends). Business at the restaurant itself has been great as well (now at lunch-time on weekdays I see groups of professionals standing in a line waiting to get in, something I've never seen before on Clematis). I ordered lechon asado (roasted pork) to go one night (by calling in to the walk-up window) and the ordering was smooth, the price was great, and the food was even better. Don Ramon's has generally brought more people to this block, which will help the other businesses. It looks like a lot of work is finally being done at the future site of Off the Hookah, so that major nightspot/restaurant is moving in the right direction toward opening. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Street 300 block" Jan 24, 2010, Clematis Waterfront Grand OpeningThe City has put out a nice brochure announcing the official grand opening of the new downtown waterfront on Saturday February 20th, only four weeks from now! CirqueMajic will perform as part of the "greatest event in the history of Palm Beach County." Progress is very evident in the middle of the project, where last week, grass was filled in between the pathways to make the great lawn that will lead up to the water where the old library once stood. This opening has been anticipated for a long time and it will be great to see it happen. Since most of the waterfront along Flagler Drive is already done, people have already been enjoying it for months now, and I've already noticed when I jog along Flagler Drive in the morning, that there are significantly more people out there than there were in the past. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Waterfront Grand Opening" Jan 16, 2010, Haiti Earthquake Assistance on ClematisThe City of West Palm Beach is accepting donations of canned goods, other nonperishable food, supplies, etc. at the entrance to the library in City Center on the 400 block of Clematis (or at city fire stations, etc.). These will be delivered directly to Haiti. Also O'Sheas on the 500 block will donate 50% of all proceeds from food sales next Monday and Tuesday to the Haitian relief effort. It is also so easy to text the word Haiti to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross relief effort (you will then get a message to confirm your intention and after you say yes, the $10 will be added to your phone bill). Permalink -- click for full blog post "Haiti Earthquake Assistance on Clematis" Jan 16, 2010, Various DevelopmentsVendome, the clothing store on the 200 block, put up a sign for a going-out-of business sale. While yet another restaurant arrives just next door (Pizza Luna Bistro Bar), yet another store bites the dust. A new shoe store owned by a famous Dreyfoos graduate has signed a lease to open up in the new city parking garage on the 500 block. Don Ramon's (300 block) and Cabanas (500 block), the two new Cuban restaurants, both appear to be hugely successful. Discussions took place at a city commission workshop regarding a new bank and a wine store coming to the 100 block. Extensive work is taking place at the future site of Gratify on the 100 block of Datura. Off The Hookah on the 300 block still appears to be at least weeks away from opening. Finally, the very rare cold wave is over, and judging from greatly increased traffic on this website, a lot of people are considering getting back out to visit Clematis Street! Permalink -- click for full blog post "Various Developments" Jan 16, 2010, Pizza Luna Bistro Bar!A sign appeared this week on the door of the vacated premises of the Maison Carlos restaurant on the 200 block of Clematis Street. The sign reads "Pizza Luna Bistro Bar". It looks like the loss of one restaurant will be replaced by a new bar/eating establishment of some kind. The people at Pizza Luna, the small pizza place next door, are working feverishly to fix up the place next door and greatly expand their business with this new addition to Clematis. It doesn't look like much more work is needed, so it seems like this place may open in the near future. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Pizza Luna Bistro Bar!" Jan 16, 2010, Downtown Train StationsThis week there was a major train planning discussion group in City Place to plan out the locations for future passenger train stations on the FEC tracks which run along Quadrille. Passenger service on these tracks probably won't happen for at least another 10 years, so don't expect to see these soon. But, it is big news that the planners settled on two different stations in the immediate downtown area (instead of the one they were considering). They considered one in the middle of downtown (i.e. Datura) but this was not possible since the platform would have to be longer than the distance between streets in that area, necessitating the closing off of Datura at Quadrille, which was a non-starter. They ended up agreeing that the downtown activity could justify two stations. One would be at Hibiscus Street right in front of the major City Place garage. The other would be right in front of the Palm Beach County Courthouse, a few blocks north of Clematis. These seem like good choices. FYI, the major purpose of this discussion group was to settle on the location for the major connector rail-line between the FEC and CSX tracks, which seems to be almost definitively set for 25th Street north of downtown. The previously-floated idea of having this connector on Evernia Street was not even mentioned. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Downtown Train Stations" Jan 8, 2010, Don Ramon's Cuban Restaurant Opens!!The long-awaited Don Ramon's Cuban restaurant opened this Wednesday, including the 24-hour walk-up window. It has also been the coldest few days in West Palm Beach in a long time, but that didn't discourage the crowds. If the first two days are any indication, Don Ramon's is the best thing to happen to Clematis Street since Rocco's Tacos. In fact, it may well surpass Rocco's Tacos in terms of impact. Even without a grand opening party of any kind, it's popularity seems to be through the roof. It has two floors of dining and the walk-up window. Even at odd hours, there always seems to be someone ordering something there. On Wednesday at midnight, the walk-up window was definitely open as advertised. And the restaurant itself has also been packed during the more traditional lunch and dinner hours. So far expectations have been surpassed. What a great thing for Clematis Street! In a side note, the people at Pizza Luna on the 200 block seem to be moving things around in their own space and working on the space next door to them that was vacated by Maison Carlos, perhaps an expansion? Permalink -- click for full blog post "Don Ramon's Cuban Restaurant Opens!!" Jan 2, 2010, Ann Taylor LoftThis afternoon I noticed that there was a vacant space right next to the ever-popular Rocco's Tacos, which did not seem normal. It looks like sometime over the holidays, the Ann Taylor Loft store packed up and neatly left the area. I'm not sure how long they have been there but they have been a fixture there for at least four years and probably much longer. This won't help the ongoing effort to "diversify" Clematis Street beyond just restaurants, but it certainly leaves some great space available (and it looks like the space was left in really good shape). In other news, Don Ramon's looks almost ready to open on the 300 block, and Cabana Nuevo Latino seems to be doing really well on the 500 block, with a crowd sitting outside even at 3 PM on Saturday afternoon. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Ann Taylor Loft" Jan 2, 2010, New Year's TidbitsMost work didn't progress much over the past week, as most people were enjoying vacations and the like. The 500 block of Clematis got some good press on New Year's Eve. All the local news channels covered the 3rd annual block party there with the ping-pong ball drop at midnight and fireworks from across the intracoastal. The 610 Clematis condo building was very visible from most of the news shots taken from the corner of Quadrille and Clematis (more visible than before because of the old buildings that have been demolished on the 500 block). In the last City Commission workshop meeting of the year, the mayor berated those responsible for doing leasing at 101 Clematis for not bringing in tenants, suggesting they may be asking too much for that prime space since others around it are filling up but that building has only Pistache Restaurant at the moment. It looks like there is, however, some potential activity there, with a bank and a wine shop considering options in the building. I haven't noticed much progress on the waterfront project over the holidays, but there was progress on the City Place north parking lot which now appears to be ready for use, with some pretty reasonable (though not spectacular) landscaping to improve the look of the area. Permalink -- click for full blog post "New Year's Tidbits" Dec 26, 2009, Clematis Street on the UpswingIs Clematis Street really on the upswing? There have been a huge number of announcements of grand openings, but also considerably more quiet closings and disappearances. However, if we survey the number (and even quality) of new establishments compared to the closings, the upswing is clearly evident. The following establishments were gained in 2009: Reef Road & Rum Bar, Mambo's Italian restaurant, Roxy's Rooftop Bar, Relaxation Remedies store, Uncle Louis G's Ice Cream, City Center, City Center cafe, Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Velocity Cycling Studio, Clematis Cellphone, and Habatat Galleries (that's 11 great additions). Also, there are 4 additional great additions on the way within days or months (Mangia Bevi Italian restaurant, Don Ramon's Cuban restaurant, Off The Hookah restaurant/nightclub, and the Soma vegan cafe) for a total of 15 great new additions. There have been significant departures, but less in number and lesser in quality in some cases (Fire Rock restaurant, Cuillo Theater ??, Maison Carlos restaurant, Diablo nightclub, Z-Gallerie, Bond's restaurant, Lars Bolander, Ray's Downtown Blues, and the De Napoli restaurant) for a total of 9 losses. But the overall score is 11 to 9 on the positive side (for actual businesses already open) and 15 to 9 on the positive side when we add the ones about to open). Although Clematis still has a number of vacancies (unlike City Place), it is also in the midst of a major revival. Interestingly, the revival was limited to the 200 block in 2008/early 2009, but now is clearly spreading to the 300 block, 400 block, and 500 block. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Street on the Upswing" Dec 26, 2009, Clematis Street 300 blockClematis Street 300 block: from Olive to Dixie Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Street 300 block" Dec 24, 2009, Palm BeachPalm Beach Permalink -- click for full blog post "Palm Beach" Dec 24, 2009, Clematis Street 500 blockClematis Street 500 blcok Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Street 500 block" Dec 24, 2009, Waterfront Project UpdateThe latest city downtown newsletter announces a grand opening celebration and opening to the public of the new downtown waterfront on Saturday February 20th. Obviously the project will not be done by New Years as originally planned, but it's now looking pretty good for completion by that alternate mid-February date (since the opening celebration has now been officially announced). The newsletter also mentions a new phase of construction from late December to mid January with advance apologies for increased noises and lights during that time. It looks like they will be really working hard on the main section right next to Centennial Square and the fountains on Clematis Street. Previous work has been focused right along the waterfront farther away from the businesses. The completed landscaping along the waterfront looks spectacular so its already clear that this project will be well worth the wait. The link below goes to our waterfront project update page, which contains photos and updates on the construction progress throughout this fall (the latest pictures are at the bottom). Permalink -- click for full blog post "Waterfront Project Update" Dec 24, 2009, Taco Vida Open!Just in time for Christmas (on the afternoon of Christmas Eve) Taco Vida has opened at the northern end of City Place (next to the Publix). This restaurant replaces La Salsa and seems to have opened in record time (it seems like only a month or so since La Salsa closed down). The new Taco Vida looks spiffy, with an inviting condiment table for self-adding of interesting ingredients. The below link contains a picture of the new Taco Vida from the entrance, as well as a summary of the latest developments at City Place. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Taco Vida Open!" Dec 21, 2009, City Place West Palm BeachCity Place Businesses West Palm Beach Permalink -- click for full blog post "City Place West Palm Beach" Dec 21, 2009, City Place 2010 UpdateCity Place 2010 Update Permalink -- click for full blog post "City Place 2010 Update" Dec 21, 2009, Clematis Street 500 blockClematis Street 500 block: from Quadrille to Rosemary Permalink -- click for full blog post "Clematis Street 500 block" Dec 20, 2009, The Luck of the IrishThere have been many changes on Clematis Street in the past few years, including a huge number of closings and a huge number of openings. How many places that were here in January 2006 are still here in December 2009? Well, in terms of full service restaurants (serving both lunch and dinner) with addresses directly on Clematis Street, I believe there are only two. The mainstays of Clematis Street are the Irish pubs, O'Sheas on the 500 block, and Roxy's on the 300 block. Congratulations to O'Sheas and Roxy's for weathering these tumultuous times. Although its main entrance is on Datura rather than Clematis, we should mention the third mainstay as well, E.R. Bradley's on the 100 block. Permalink -- click for full blog post "The Luck of the Irish" Dec 13, 2009, Cabana Nuevo Latino Open!The Cabana Nuevo Latino restaurant is now completely open on the 500 block. This is a great restaurant (previously located on the 100 block of Clematis, now re-opening after a several month hiatus). Apparently the staff was working in their Delray location while this location wasn't open. This was always my favorite restaurant when located on the 100 block next to my office, and now it has a new location next to my home, with the same excellent menu. It serves high quality food, and is not expensive. They are open 7 days for dinner and they are open for lunch during the week (and possibly on the weekends). The addition of such a high quality restaurant will be a great boon for the 500 block. I suspect it may take some time for people to find them in their new location, and for new traffic patterns to draw people there, which is not quite as central as their previous location at the moment, but is certainly an up-and-coming area. It's time to get the word out on this great restaurant, which I understand may have its "official grand opening" on December 22. The new space is actually larger than the old space, though from the front it looks smaller (it gets bigger when you go inside). The colors and signage make for a very nice impression, a quaint restaurant right next to the ever-successful O'Sheas Irish Pub. This makes four major new venues that have actually opened in recent weeks in the Clematis - City Place district: Mambo's Italian restaurant, B.B. King's Blues Club, Roxy's Rooftop Bar, and now Cabana Nuevo Latino (previously Cabana Las Palmas but the same menu). Permalink -- click for full blog post "Cabana Nuevo Latino Open!" Dec 11, 2009, Restaurant DevelopmentsCabana Nuevo Latino (533 Clematis Street) may be open (not sure whether they're having another private party or actually open to the public this evening). But if it's not open today, it will be open very soon. They put up a nice colorful sign above the door this week, and menus have now been posted. A great development for the 500 block! In less positive news, a sign just appeared on the Maison Carlos restaurant on the 200 block (which had been closed for the summer and not yet re-opened) that they are moving. No word yet on where they are moving to (unless they are moving to another location on Clematis, this could be another restaurant loss). In other news, Roxy's Rooftop Bar is now being actively marketed as open throughout the downtown area (but not yet serving food). Also, the final small streetfront piece of the old buildings on the 500 block was finally torn down today (no one knew why they left that last piece for a few weeks but it's now finally history). Finally, the Palm Beach Post had a very good article about all of the new restaurants downtown in its Wednesday Accent section -- one notable thing is that Off The Hookah was listed as opening "winter 2009-2010" while Don Ramon's was listed as opening "this month", so it looks like Don Ramon's should be open within a week or so, whereas Off The Hookah may take a bit longer to open. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Restaurant Developments" Dec 5, 2009, New DevelopmentsThings are now happening fast and furious on Clematis Street. The Palm Beach Photographic Centre had a grand opening Friday night for its new Leica photo store, along with a display and talk from NBC Anchor Ann Curry. At the same time the Polar Express trolleys were picking up kids and parents at the City Center, resulting in quite a crowd on the 400 block in the early evening. The Cabanas Nuevo Latino restaurant on the 500 block of Clematis was open for a private party. It looks like it's done inside, and the waiter told me that it would likely open to the public by next Thursday. Just next door, the Habatat Gallery has another world-famous gallery display starting tonight (Saturday) with a public grand opening. And a lease has been signed across the street for a Greek restaurant next to the new Clematis Cellphone store, in the former Phat Sandwiches spot (the walls have been papered over indicating work is now going on inside). And on the 300 block, Roxy's has now posted two hostesses outside the staircase to the rooftop bar to welcome visitors and let them know that the rooftop bar is up there and open. This weekend is the huge Palm Beach Marathon Festival on Flagler Drive and the 5K race this morning was a lot of fun. It's that time of year where there is always a lot more activity on Clematis Street, compounded this year by all the new restaurants opening and about to open. Permalink -- click for full blog post "New Developments" Dec 3, 2009, B.B. King's Blues Club Open!Walking through CityPlace this evening, I noticed that tonight, Dec. 2nd, was the grand opening for B.B. King's Blues Club. The momentum is really building in downtown West Palm Beach! The place looked pretty crowded already at around 7:30 PM. This completes the upper-level area at City Place around the Muvico Theater. Now everything there is a restaurant/nightspot (the space was previously occupied by a regular restaurant, Legal Seafoods). Now this area is a veritable mecca of music and entertainment with The Improv, Wet Willies and Capt. O' Briens, Blue Martini, and now B.B. King's Blues Club, and then across the walkway, Taverna Opa, Carousel Can Can Cafe, etc. City Place has never had so many elaborate and varied nightspots, all right next to each other. Every place is half-outside and half-inside, and during the winter when the weather is the nicest, the outside areas tend to be even more crowded than the inside areas. B.B. King's Blues Club is a long-awaited great addition to the mix. Permalink -- click for full blog post "B.B. King's Blues Club Open!" Dec 3, 2009, 500 Block Demolition and Roxy's RooftopThe old abandoned buildings on the southeast side of the 500 block are finally almost completely gone. There is one tiny strip left right at the street-front. But everything in the back is down, including that pesky "smokestack" like thing which blocked some views and was finally demolished yesterday. When walking down Clematis from Quadrille, things really look different now. It looks like half of the block is gone. On another note (slightly disappointing), Roxy's Rooftop Bar appears to be open in some small sense of the word, but there is no signage and no activity. I was able to walk up the long staircase and take a look around on the rooftop, and the setting looks quite spectacular, but it doesn't appear that they were actually able to really open full-fledged yet, despite their grand opening party last weekend. I understand that the serving of food up there is still weeks if not longer away, and there are no signs yet, so most people don't even have a clue it's there. When I wandered around up there, there were only two people and a large dog there, who looked like they were probably part of the Roxy's staff. The setting looks impressive, but the long old staircases one has to take to get there appear to be a bit problematic. At least, I didn't see any elevator. Perhaps it is these logistics that are causing some of the delays. It figures that things take a little longer on Clematis Street than City Place, because the infrastructure is a lot older on Clematis. I was able to take some cool pictures looking down on the Clematis holiday lights from the Roxy's rooftop. Permalink -- click for full blog post "500 Block Demolition and Roxy's Rooftop" Dec 1, 2009, Mambo's Italian Restaurant Open!Mambo's Italian restaurant is now open on the 300 block of Clematis Street. Finally, one of the major new restaurants that has been in-the-works this fall, is actually open for business. Instead of having to report on closings, we can actually report on an opening!! Mambo's Italian Restaurant (Meatballs & Music) has actually been open for several days but we were gone for Thanksgiving so didn't realize this until today. The restaurant was clearly open today Monday for both lunch and dinner, with a hostess standing outside with menus. I haven't eaten there yet but I took a look at the menu and it is extensive with numerous complex dishes. At around 5:45 PM today (with Monday typically being the slowest day for dinner at restaurants on Clematis), there were already 3 or 4 groups of people in the restaurant, a few at tables and a few seated in the bar area. Don't hesitate to come down to Clematis Street and try it out, it's open! This is the first major restaurant to open in quite a while, but actually the second new food establishment in the last month on that side of the 300 block, the other being Uncle Louie G's Italian Ice and Ice Cream, so now you can visit the 300 block to fill up on Italian meatballs and pasta and then top it off with some Italian ice cream from next door. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Mambo's Italian Restaurant Open!" Nov 30, 2009, New Stores in City Place Northern EndThings seem to be picking up nicely in the sometimes troubled northern end of City Place. While a few stores went out of business recently, new stores have opened up. I just noticed two new stores that were already open today in the north end, on the east side of Rosemary -- one is a Verizon Wireless mobile phone store and the other is a store whose name includes the word "Decor". On the other side of the street (western), work is clearly being done inside the two future restaurant sites as the name "Taco Vida" along with several interesting logos for food/drink items have appeared at the former Salsa site, and the words "Wild Olives, a restaurant by Todd English" have appeared on the former site of the Italian Oven Cafe. Permalink -- click for full blog post "New Stores in City Place Northern End" Nov 29, 2009, ThanksgivingI was out-of-town for Thanksgiving and returned on Saturday night -- so I jogged down Clematis Street on Sunday morning to see if there had been any new developments visible from the street. Not much but a few things to note. The building being demolished on the 500 block seemed to make some progress but the smokestack is still there and demolition doesn't appear to be completely finished. One interesting thing on the 500 block -- there are now signs at the former Napoli's Italian restaurant saying "Clematis Pizza, Opening Soon", so it looks like they are re-branding with the simple Clematis Pizza name and hopefully re-opening soon as the sign says. I thought Mambo's Italian restaurant on the 300 block was going to open last week but from the signs I'm not sure if it did or not (they still have posters on the door saying Mambo's Italian Meatballs and Music opening soon). The waterfront project seems to have had some construction progress with a few additional landscaped areas looking really nice. But not too much activity overall (looks like everyone else was also gone for Thanksgiving). We are expecting a flurry of activity this coming week, now that everyone is back and the high tourist season is upon us. We here at walkingclematis are now back in the saddle to report all the new developments on a more frequent basis in the coming weeks. It was a mixed Thanksgiving around here, with the Jupiter family shootings, the Tiger Woods car incident, and most importantly for Clematis Street, the tragic death from health problems of a friend in his late 50s in our 610 Clematis building. It seems like a lot of bad things happened around the holidays and it may be better to get back into the normal swing of life with the upcoming work week, always being thankful that all of us that are still here to read this continue to be blessed with the gift of life. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Thanksgiving" |