[Ed. Note: corrected to add 'Sephardic Sisters' below]
The saga of the star-crossed 'restaurant row' on Wilson between Malden and Beacon continues this weekend as "Dear Flo's" has its soft opening this weekend.
The restaurant, which will focus on "Bakery, Biscuits & Breakfast," is opening in the former Kal'ish location at 1313 W. Wilson.
After hosting various businesses for years, the easternmost spot (1303 W. Wilson) appeared to find its forever tenant in Baker & Nosh, a hugely successful bakery business. But expansion plans coupled with poor business management led to an abrupt closure in 2017, leaving a void that Andy and Gina Kalish have tried to fill with different concepts.
For a brief period, Andy and Gina overlapped with B&N, opening the successful vegan restaurant Kal'ish in 2016. Kal'ish, which took up the westernmost space that was previously the "Forget Me Knodt" flower shop, was a multiple time vegan restaurant award winner in its 7 year run.
2017 brought Longacre Pizza Box to the middle space (1309 W. Wilson), a small scale pizza concept that was a love letter to Andy's Detroit roots. The Detroit style pizza was authentic and had devoted fans, but was criticized for uneven hours. Andy & Gina closed the restaurant while working on a new vegan concept for the space.
2018 brought a different Longacre experience, as Andy and Gina tried their hand at a takeaway (and later sit-down) concept in the former B&N space to the east. Longacre lasted about a year and was once again criticized for inconsistent hours and a shifting concept.
2020 brought Sam & Gerties, a vegan spinoff of Kal'ish that was the world's first vegan Jewish deli. Sam & Gerties was in the middle space formerly occupied by Longacre Pizza Squared. Despite COVID, Sam & Gertie's remained popular with limited weekend hours through its closure in May 2024.
For a brief period, the eastern space was filled again, this time with L/A Mex, a taco spot and nod to Gina's family that was open briefly from late 2022 to early 2023. Once again, inconsistent hours were an issue with patrons.
[Eds. added this section, h/t reader AM] After the closure of Kal'ish, a new middle eastern vegan concept, Sephardic Sisters, was open for 4 months in the spring of 2023 in the 1313 W. Wilson space.
L/A Mex was then converted in the fall of 2023 to Floreen's, an ode to Andy's Mom. Pizza was resurrected alongside a new menu focused on fried chicken. Floreen's run was brief, as the concept was shuttered by winter 2023 and has been closed since.
While the 'restaurant row' has seen all this turnover, other businesses have created deep roots. Pokiology and Emerald City have been a strong presence on Wilson for eight years now, two blocks east. The Public Barber and Hearthstone & Terrace (now Terrace) are about to celebrate their tenth and fifth anniversaries, respectively, and Uptown Taproom just turned two.
This shows there is an active customer base in and around Uptown's central street to patronize businesses in these spots, and we hear from readers constantly about the potential for successful restaurant (or other businesses) in the 1303, 1309 and 1313 W. Wilson spaces.
Hopefully Andy and Gina have unlocked the key to success with the new concept. We at UU have eaten at every one of the prior concepts (all good food!) [Ed. - none of us ate at Sephardic Sisters] and wish them the best with this new venture.
How many tries does this Andy get? All these places have been garbage comparatively. Bring back Baker and Nosh and spare us the vegan bullshit.
ReplyDeleteBaker and Nosh was the best ever! We need that back! Andy hates Uptown and people in general. "He's gots to go..." Quoted from This Is The End
ReplyDeleteJust search his name on Facebook. The guy is a known neighborhood nuisance. A guy a few blocks from me had to threaten him with a restraining order. Also, he came up in conversation with the owners of two separate Uptown restaurants and they both said he’s a jerk.
ReplyDeleteHe's a crook
ReplyDeleteHe's singlehandedly preventing better restaurants and shops from coming to Uptown. I'm convinced he's doing something illegal. Who has this amount of money to keep throwing away if they aren't doing something shady.
ReplyDeleteTax breaks for whole building if a “reasonable” effort is made to start businesses in empty store front?!!!!!! Could be a win win for the owners of building. Unfortunately not for the neighborhood. Look into it! And how does this owner get such good PR in all the neighborhood news? When it’s a constant complaint from the neighborhood.
ReplyDelete