FLEMING'S ON THE MOVE ... Big plans are on the horizon for Fleming's Steakhouse at Stanford Shopping Center. Construction recently began for the steakhouse's new stand-alone building.
"The shopping center is expanding and asked us to relocate, because Bloomingdale's will be building a new location in front of our restaurant," Fleming's owner-operator Wayne Hanseth said.
Neither Stanford nor Bloomingdale's execs were available to comment on the upscale store's plans. Meanwhile, Stanford has chosen the mall's parking lot, near the El Camino Real entrance to the shopping center, for the new location of Fleming's.
When construction is completed, the restaurant will measure 7,000 square feet, about 1,800 square feet larger than the current one.
"We'll be adding another dining room, so we'll have a total of three private dining rooms and also three patios," Hanseth said, adding that the restaurant's bar will also expand to double its current size to create more of a "lounge atmosphere."
Other changes for Fleming's include a new style for the interior of the restaurant and a plan to begin Sunday brunches in September. Hanseth estimates the new restaurant will begin doing business on Aug. 9. The current Fleming's will remain open throughout the construction of the new facility.
Other changes in the Stanford Shopping Center include a new dog boutique.
Offering gourmet food, toys, clothing and accessories for dogs, Happy Go Lucky Dog Boutique and Bakery has taken over the former site of Haagen-Dazs, which moved out of the mall in November 2012. And American Girl is coming to Stanford.
The store will occupy a large space on the Sand Hill Road side, next to Pottery Barn and wrapping around to the former Talbots location, sources familiar with the development said. Scaffolding is already in place to transform the corner into a two-story American Girl store, which offers dolls, accessories and books. The price tag for an American Girl doll, which stands 18 inches tall, starts at about $100.
RAMONA'S PIZZA GONE ... The small, casual Ramona's Pizza at 2313 Birch St. in Palo Alto, popular for its variety of lunchtime slices, is gone. It surprised would-be diners on May 1, when the restaurant closed and brown paper went up on the windows.
COFFEE WITH TEE TIMES ... Another Coupa Cafe has opened, this one on the Stanford Golf Course. This marks the fifth location for Coupa at Stanford, in addition to its original Palo Alto location on Ramona Street. Coupa's latest coffee shop opened at 198 Junipero Serra Blvd. on May 1 and offers a breakfast and lunch menu. It replaces the Stanford Grill, which closed after a 12-year run.
NEW MARKET TO OPEN IN JUNE ... Palo Alto's newest grocer, The Fresh Market, has announced a June 5 opening in Edgewood Plaza. The nearly 21,000-square-foot store comes on the heels of another grocer, Miki's Market, which closed after only six months in Alma Village. The Fresh Market has big plans, including offering more than 200 imported and domestic cheeses, and a bakery that produces 30 freshly baked breads and 14 pie varieties daily, according to the company's president and CEO, Craig Carlock.
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. Email shoptalk@paweekly.com.
Comments
Midtown
on May 20, 2013 at 3:48 pm
on May 20, 2013 at 3:48 pm
I can't believe that Ramona's Pizza is gone!
Downtown North
on May 20, 2013 at 8:33 pm
on May 20, 2013 at 8:33 pm
I can't believe that Coupa is opening another coffee shop!
Palo Alto High School
on May 20, 2013 at 9:12 pm
on May 20, 2013 at 9:12 pm
I can't believe they are expanding Fleming's. Overpriced, mediocre food. And it's blocking the nice set back, mall. Now the mall will look like a huge urban center, all squished in.
American Girl store! It will be only the second one in California and will do well in this area. It's basically marketing with overpriced items. We used to drive to Los Angeles for their store when my daughter was young.
What is the new building being constructed near Bloomie's?
Green Acres
on May 21, 2013 at 12:52 am
on May 21, 2013 at 12:52 am
<gourmet food, toys, clothing and accessories for dogs...
I think I'm going to fwow up.
Downtown North
on May 22, 2013 at 11:34 am
on May 22, 2013 at 11:34 am
"for people with more $$ than taste" I somewhat agree but not to the extent of fwowing up!! Where, other than Palo Alto/Stanford, could one find gourmet food, toys, etc. for our beautiful adoptees? Palo Alto remains famous for the avant-garde, n'est pas?
Stanford
on May 22, 2013 at 11:58 am
on May 22, 2013 at 11:58 am
Famous for the avant garde? Please, this isn't Paris, by any stretch of the imagination.
Menlo Park
on May 22, 2013 at 12:37 pm
on May 22, 2013 at 12:37 pm
I'd rather keep the parking spaces which will disappear under the new building than have more Flemming's or a bigger, increasingly mediocre Bloomies.
Palo Alto High School
on May 22, 2013 at 12:43 pm
on May 22, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Neighbor - from what I have heard, the new Bloomies will actually be smaller and more boutique-like not larger. I also heard that they will build more multi-level parking garages so the parking will increase, not decrease.
I love that the American Girl store is coming! BTW - the big building by Neiman's is rumored to be a new Apple Store.
Stanford
on May 22, 2013 at 5:18 pm
on May 22, 2013 at 5:18 pm
I miss Fresh Choice and Bravo Fono.
I wish there was a tea shop/restaurant serving watercress sandwiches and scones.
I wish they had a Woolworth's or dime store (if they still exist!) to buy small odds and ends.
I wish Books Inc. hadn't moved to Town and Country.
I suspect parking this holiday season will be most difficult.
East Palo Alto
on May 22, 2013 at 5:25 pm
on May 22, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Nora - I wish there was a teashop there, too! Have you been to Lisa's tea Treasures in Menlo, or Tyme for Tea in Fremont?
Wow, a Woolworths or similar notions store would be great, but I am sure it'd be incredibly expensive.