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Shop Talk

by Daryl Savage

MAC'S BY THE TRACKS DERAILED ... It's the end of the line for Mac's by the Tracks. The restaurant at 109 S. California Ave. in Palo Alto was evicted before it even had a chance to leave the station. "If we were open and didn't pay the rent, that's one thing. But we weren't even open yet and they still evicted us," Mac's owner Anthony McFadden said. So what began as a labor of love "became a nightmare at the end," said McFadden, who had been trying for more than a year to open Palo Alto's only soul-food restaurant, located near the Caltrain station. There was a brief glimpse of what McFadden had in mind for Palo Altans on July 4 when he scheduled an outdoor feast. Hundreds of customers showed up, creating lines that snaked around the corner, for a taste of Mac's BBQ brisket, ribs and chicken. But it was the problems inside the building, formerly Plantation Cafe, that plagued McFadden. "We kept running into potholes. And each one cost us another $20,000 to fix. It became a real bad situation. But we did everything by the book ... and we had the support of the community." McFadden added that his catering clients are still going strong. "We're not giving up," he said. "We're searching for a new location. We'll find something."

MORE COMINGS, GOINGS ... Madame Tan, a gourmet Asian bistro, has opened at 322 University Ave. Another new restaurant, Bon Vivant Cafe, will be coming to 535 Bryant St. Meanwhile, Melt, a lounge that featured two floors of dancing and drinks and appetizers at 544 Emerson St, has closed. And the women's golf specialty store From Tee to Green has moved from Town & Country Village to Stanford Shopping Center.

Heard a rumor about your favorite store or business moving out, or in, down the block or across town? Daryl Savage will check it out. She can be e-mailed at shoptalk@paweekly.com.

Posted by Norma, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Oct 4, 2010 at 7:18 pm

It's important to know that a restaurant can be full all the time, and still fail. If the operators fail to control costs, they will spiral out of control sooner or later. Unfortunately, people who are good in the kitchen are not always good on Quickbooks.