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Business & Tech

Sprouts & Shutters: Pet Stores, Pitas, Poker and More

Here's the latest roundup of retail, restaurant and other business news in the Tri-Valley area.

Wondering what’s moving into your neighborhood shopping center? Our biweekly Sprouts & Shutters column highlights the latest Tri-Valley restaurant, retail and other business news.

A new bar and grill called Firehouse No. 37 is set to move into El Balazo’s old space in San Ramon’s Marketplace shopping center this summer. The new firehouse-themed “gastropub” will offer roughly 40 beers on tap plus a large menu of locally sourced dishes. Read more in Patch’s .

Looking for academic enrichment for your kids? A second Kumon just opened in San Ramon this month. Owner Anthony Luu’s new Kumon San Ramon North is located on San Ramon Valley Boulevard near Togos. 

San Ramon’s  closed Jan. 20. Callers hear a recorded message explaining that the store closed “due to rising costs at Diablo Plaza.” The upscale furniture consignment store was located next to the new BevMo.

Dublin’s Your Safety Place recently moved its retail shop on Village Parkway to Livermore. The new Livermore store, which still focuses on earthquake and safety supplies, is located on Lindbergh Avenue near Boomers. It also sells its products online at yoursafetyplace.com

Your Safety Place’s old space didn’t stay vacant long: West Coast Gold Buyers, a gold-buyer franchise, moved in at the end of December. West Coast Gold Buyers buys gold and silver coins as wells as gold, silver and platinum jewelry. 

Opening Update: Dublin Liquor and Wine, previewed in the December Sprouts, opened Jan. 21 in the Dublin Corners shopping center near the Toyota dealership off Dublin Boulevard. 

The area’s last El Balazo has been replaced with a new Mexican restaurant, La Palapa. Visitors to the Hopyard Road restaurant will still see the old El Balazo signs during this soft opening and transition period. La Palapa's owner Sebastian Sandoval, whose parents owned El Balazo for 17 years until their recent retirement, says he’s in the process of developing a new menu and updating restaurant décor. Sandoval hopes to celebrate a formal grand opening this March after getting his liquor license. 

Extreme Pita is opening this spring on Hopyard Road in the Crossroads shopping center near Sweet Tomatoes. The chain eatery focuses on healthy quick-serve rolled pita sandwiches plus grilled chicken, gyros and falafel. Canadian-based Extreme Pita has 40 U.S. locations, including one in San Ramon. 

Pleasanton’s Chevys Mexican restaurant closed in December, just a few weeks after the . You can still get your Crispy Chicken Flautas and Cadillac Margarita at the Tri-Valley's remaining Chevys in San Ramon. A corporate spokesman says that currently the company has no plans to close that location. The parent company of Chevys restaurants last fall. 

Opening Update: Buckhorn Grill, , opened Jan. 20 in CPK ASAP’s old spot in the Stoneridge Shopping Center. Read more about the opening here on . 

Livermore’s Lucky Buck moved from Railroad Avenue to a remodeled casino on North Canyons Parkway (right off 580) at the end of December. Now called Casino 580, the cardroom serves 80 seats at gaming tables with poker, blackjack and baccarat. 

Kitchen 580, Casino 580’s new restaurant, boasts an eclectic upscale “gastropub burger/Asian noodle” menu with such dishes as Tofu Organic Seasonal Vegetable Salad, Angus Beef Sliders, Pork Shoyo Ramen and Honey Lavender Chicken. The new restaurant is offset from the main gaming rooms and features a full bar. 

Livermore’s Live-For-More-Fudge recently partnered with Bon Vivant Catering and now shares the downtown catering kitchen on First Street. Live-For-More-Fudge concocts temping fudge flavors like Butter Brickle Crunch, Raspberry Chocolate Swirl, Maple Nut and, of course, Chocolate and sells them locally at Outside In Etc., Victorine Olive Oil, First Street Wine Company, Las Positas Winery as well at food and wine events and the Livermore and Pleasanton Farmers' Markets.

Opening Update: Petco, , opened in early December in Plaza 580’s old Mervyn’s building, also home to the new T.J. Maxx and Big Lots.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill is coming back to Danville. The burrito and taco restaurant chain, which closed its downtown eatery several years ago, is set to open in the Danville Square Shopping Center near Trader Joe’s. Stay tuned for an opening date. Meanwhile, you can eat at nearby Chipotle restaurants in San Ramon or Dublin. 

 recently closed its Danville Livery store. The small boutique sold European-inspired home décor and gourmet foods next door to Games Unlimited. 
 
Danville will soon get a second Pet Food Express. The Bay Area based pet food and supply chain is set to open its new store in early May in the former Blockbuster next to Starbucks on Crow Canyon Road near the Blackhawk Plaza.

Congratulations to , which was the only East Bay restaurant to receive AAA’s 4 star rating. Read all about it .

Opening Update: Divan Indo-Pak Cuisine, , is now open in San Ramon's Magnolia Square Shopping Center.

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Did you miss Patch's last retail and restaurant roundup? Read about these and more in our last Sprouts & Shutters column:  

  •  and  in Danville
  •  and  in San Ramon
  •  and  in Dublin
  •  and  in Pleasanton 
  •  and  in Livermore

Know of a restaurant or shop opening or closing in the Tri-Valley? Please send me a news tip at patchsprouts@gmail.com.


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