The latest dispatches from the Reno restaurant front feature a planned Mexican breakfast spot, potential doings from a big name in local coffee, a wine bar and shop where work is nearing completion, a Midtown deli that just opened a South Reno outpost, and a great new bar on California Avenue.
Let’s start with the important stuff: booze.
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FOREST ST. STATION, 100 California Ave., suite 100, 775-451-1890
I’ve found a new bar to put into heavy rotation.
Forest St. Station occupies a onetime travel agency at the corner of California Avenue and Forest Street (hence the name). The new space is rendered in tones of sage green and gunmetal gray, with big picture windows, a long bar, flat-screen televisions and bucrania (a great word for decorative cattle skulls) garnishing the walls.
Forest St. selections include beer on tap, several local spirits and craft cocktails (though not to excess). The bartenders are friendly, and the place feels cool without being trendy. Drop by; you might see me there.
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BLACKROCK WINE CO., 6135 Lakeside Drive, suite 111, 775-440-1091
This wine and craft beer tasting room and retail shop is in the same center as Simon’s Café & Lounge and Smiling with Hope Pizza. Blackrock will have about 45 seats inside and out, a retail table for displaying red wines, and a walk-in cooler for beer and white wines.
The wine program will feature a dozen frequently changing wines by the glass or the quartino (about 7 ounces), some wines on draft (to extend freshness), and the opportunity to try less-familiar varietals. Folks also can buy a retail bottle and drink it in the store.
The menu of snacks and small plates to pair with wines ranges from Marcona almonds and grissini wrapped in prosciutto to a baguette with three olive oils for dunking to rotating cheese and charcuterie boards.
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MICHAEL’S DELI, 465 S. Meadows Parkway, suite 19, 775-440-1088
Michael’s Deli has served up sub sandwiches for 17 years from its Midtown location (a former Blimpie). About three weeks ago, Michael’s debuted a South Reno deli (a former Subway) in the same center as Flowing Tide Pub.
The order counter lies on one side of the storefront; tables line the wall on the other side beneath a row of sports posters (dig into your Italian sub while contemplating a leaping Michael Jordan).
The menu showcases all the Michael’s standards: subs, hot and cold sandwiches, triple deckers, mile-high sandwiches, and nearly two dozen salads served with garlic Parmesan crostini and pickled onions.
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COFFEEBAR FOOD & DRINK, 18 Saint Lawrence Ave.
It looks like Coffeebar, the popular café with a location in Reno and five in California (plus a bakery and a roastery), is planning to open a spot in the premises that recently housed Food & Drink on Saint Lawrence Avenue in Midtown.
A recent business license application indicates the place will be called Coffeebar Food & Drink, and it will be a “restaurant open for brunch, lunch and dinner selling pizza, salads, waffles, ice cream sandwiches, beer, wine and margaritas.”
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LOS CHILAQUILES MEXICAN BREAKFAST, 3380 S. McCarran Blvd.
A business license application has been filed for this restaurant to take over the space next door to Flowing Tide Pub in the center at South McCarran Boulevard and Mira Loma Drive in Southeast Reno.
I don’t have more details to share, but if it involves chilaquiles, I’m all for it.
Johnathan L. Wright is the food and drink writer for Reno News & Review. Follow him on Twitter at @ItsJLW or on Facebook personally or at @FoodNevada. Sign up here for the Reno News & Review free weekly newsletter highlighting our most recent stories.