It was hard to read the Facebook post from November.
“November 15 would have been the 25th anniversary” was posted for Casa De Paradiso Mexican Restaurant. Photos of the site showed the Clark Road restaurant in flames.
Like other businesses, the restaurant is chasing a new beginning, starting with a Chico location. There is a hope to go back to Paradise, but the ridge has some challenges to overcome, like water and sewer service.
Casa De Paradiso is moving into the empty Original Pete’s restaurant on Carmichael and East Park Avenue. The owners, Manny and Yolanda Tovalin, have bought the building. While the sign is up, the eatery has fingers crossed for a late August opening, according to manager Edie Havle-Brown.
Original Pete’s closed last month, with a few posted words on the door about retirement.
Having lost her place — both for work and living — Havle-Brown says she’s excited and the staff is ready to get back to work.
As with any staff, there are many standout customers she hopes are still in the area and will come through the door on opening day, including the “Monday couple” who came in at 6 p.m. and were seated at the same table every time, the manager said.
To bring a little bit of normalcy into the lives of Paradise ridge victims, as well as make new friends over Mexican food, is the staff’s ultimate goal right now, she said.
Branding Chico’s airport?
He’s mentioned it before, and he’ll mention it again this week.
Chico Airport commissioner Mike Antolock thinks the airport should have a new identity. As funny as that might seem initially, Antolock makes some good points.
He believes Chico’s airport doesn’t have a brand or identity, and it needs that. I’m sure marketing people would agree with him, and marketing could be a big deal in the airport’s future.
Then he thinks people would respond differently if it had another name, including flying more from there.
Chico is a small dot on a map, but with a “larger, regional image,” it would attract more attention not only from the public, but from the internet — search engine optimization.
Antolock provides the example of several airports that have changed their names, including Manchester, New Hampshire, which added Boston to its name. “Out-of-town passengers initially increased to 52 percent of total passengers,” his research showed.
If you want to hear more about Antolock’s ideas, he’s going to lay them out at Tuesday’s Airport Commission meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 421 Main St.
I’m looking forward to this conversation because Antolock has been talking about this for several years, without much traction. However, the position we’re in without a carrier means thinking outside … the region.
Where have they gone?
Is it competition, the neighborhood, staffing, costs or … ?
Two more families have made the painful decision to close. Both in Chcio, 15th Street Cafe and Chico Coffee Co. are gone. I got an email from a coffee lover wondering what’s going on.
Amy Velazquez of the Alliance for Workforce Development said several restaurants are working through her office to find more staff.
I have heard from a couple of owners that it was hard to find staffers that are reliable, do their job, are respectful, etc.
Velazquez added additional insight, mentioning it is hard for restaurants when students leave, obviously pointing out that huge pool of workers who are eager for work schedules that flow around their classes.
But she also mentioned the hard work, lower wages and part-time hours aren’t conducive to keeping good staff. Having to work nights and weekends is another hurdle.
Chico Coffee Co. was a tenant in a downtown building owned by David Halimi, who told me the business’ disappearance was a surprise to him, too. Halimi said he has reached out to them with no success. Earlier, they had mentioned that since the Camp Fire, their other location had lost a lot of business and they were trying to make it all work.