The face of food in Arcadia is changing quickly all of a sudden.
First, the long-standing Ralph’s grocery store on Santa Anita Avenue will be closing for good on May 24. I’m told that the company will continue to own the property and will most likely not lease the space to another grocer since they would want to create more competition for the remaining couple of Ralph’s locations in Arcadia.
Most likely the Ralph’s space will be leased to a thrift shop of some kind to blend with the whole street of thrift stores on Live Oak between Santa Anita and Second Avenue.
Then there is the impending bankruptcy/sale of British Tesco’s Fresh & Easy franchise in the U.S., which would likely impact the shop on Foothill Boulevard.
But that situation is as fluid as it is perplexing, with more ads these days for Fresh & Easy than ever before.
Meanwhile, a slew of new restaurants are being prepared to open at Westfield Santa Anita, including a new Chipotle, a new Asian buffet to replace the former Todai asian buffet, a shave ice shop, and the previously announced first Haidilao hot pot restaurants to open outside of mainland China, coming soon to the mall’s Promenade.
And there are also exciting new restaurants opening in the downtown area near Huntington and First Avenue, such as the new Korean Hot n Sweet Chicken restaurant in the former Bar Twist building just west of First Avenue on the south side of Huntington. Hot n Sweet has an impressive ambiance and a wildly diverse menu with everything from Korean to pizza, pasta and cajun selections.
And longtime favorites are getting makeovers. Matt Denny’s Ale House and Restaurant recently completed a freshening up of the exterior facing Huntington Drive, and Paco’s Mexican Restaurant at Second and Foothill is in the middle of a major upgrade to the facade and bathrooms that is scheduled to be complete in time for Father’s Day on June 16. Meanwhile, the eatery is showing off its new patio to customers this Sunday for a celebration of Cinco de Mayo.
— By Scott Hettrick