Being the city government nerd I am, I watch all the meetings. The last one was the planning commission meeting. At the end of the meeting they approved a conditional use permit for a new restaurant in the old location of the House of Soccer, formerly a taco joint, formerly a Brazilian joint, formerly the Hamburger Shop (best damn Wisconsin cheese soup in the world).
Rick Weiland’s wife Stacy Newcomb will be running the joint. Stacy heads up the State Theatre restoration project. I’m sure it will be a class joint. Rick and his wife are great people.
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A motion was made by Meredith Larson and seconded by Kent Metzger to approve with the following conditions:
1.  Approval for this applicant only.
2.  A security management plan to be approved by the Police Department.
3.  Any proposed outdoor seating as related to the restaurant use will require review and approval by the City Planning OfficeÂMotion Passed 8 – 0.
Let’s hope this is the beginning of a trend. Let the locally owned places thrive downtown, and let the chains visited by screaming babies and Iowegians stay by the mall.
Nice facade. Somehow I don’t mind the city giving them “free $”. As long as they don’t cram the place full of douchebags on weekends, I think it will be great.
I can tolerate liberal douchebags over neocon douchebags any day.
Will I have to own a pair of thick-rimmed glasses or several t-shirts that are obviously three sizes to small for me to eat there?
Oh, Oh… and do I need to know “starbuckesse” to order a friggin’ coffee? If I want to order a coffee, I’ll order a god damn coffee. I don’t need soy milk, I don’t need you to call it grande or venti, I don’t need to call it a mocha caramel espresso whateverthefuck with breve creme and cinammon sprinkles, I don’t need the person making it to call themselves a idiotic name like barista when in reality they are just a coffee jockey, I don’t need to read or comprehend Italian when the shit comes from Columbia anyway, and I sure as hell don’t need to pay $6.50 for the damn thing only to find it tastes suspiciously like the Folgers my grandmother makes.
Thick-rimmed and covered with irony.
Costner, calm down. If you order a coffee, you get coffee.
This place looks like they’ll be serving food.