Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Just trying to keep up with all the stuff brewing around town. Here are a few tidbits:
-There’s a new pool hall being constructed in the vacant building right next door to Arcade Asheville. I don’t have details, but the new pool room means that corner of Spruce and College is going to be even hotter than Arcade has already made it. Arcade – part bar, part restaurant and part game room – has been wildly popular since it opened with a raging New Year’s Eve dance party. Ever since then, Arcade’s Friday night dance events have been slammed, and the place in general has been so busy that it’s pissing off some other downtown restaurant/bars, who are like, “WTF! Where did all my business go?” Answer: To the Arcade, dude, for some tachos and Tetris.
-Word is that a new bar may be moving into the space next to Short Street Cakes on Haywood Road in East-West Asheville. Short Street Cakes has been a real local success story in that little neighborhood, and a new bar in the former Farm Girl space right next door could kick things up a notch. The new Anam Cara Theatre Collective, which I believe is going to be housed in a building just down from Short Street Cakes, will make this leg of Haywood Road a happening place.
-There may be a super-secret soft opening this weekend of the Battery Park Book Champgagne Bar and Book Exchange. That’s what I’m hearing, anyway. The popular book store and wine/champagne bar is moving out of the Battery Park Apartments building and into the Grove Arcade corner location that was once the home of the arcade’s little grocery. Just walk by the space, and you can see that it’s coming together.
-There’s brown paper covering the windows of the former Scratch/Nova restaurant on Broadway near Rosetta’s. It’s the first activity I’ve noticed there since the place closed back in 2009. Anybody know what might be going on?
-What else is going on around town?
Sad to hear that Farm Girl is gone, it was such a neat plant-y place.
My real question is this: Does anyone know if Battery Park will continue to be pet-friendly in their new space?
Man, the Asheville Arcade is awesome. The dance parties are awesome. They have an awesome facebook page and they really listen to customer feedback and your requests. They really care about how they do things. A lot of local bars could learn much from them and that the customer is important, not just the dollar.