New Restaurant for Uptown

Paulette's old place is getting a make-over

On the north end of Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier, in the area known as "Uptown", there is a large home.  It's the remnant of another age, when the business district didn't go quite that far up the street.   Now, it's in the middle of a commercial block.

Back when I moved to Whittier, there was an interior decorator named Paulette who owned the place.  It was perfect for her business.  Since she retired and left, no one has been able to make a go of it.  It's been sitting vacant for years.

Part of the problem with the property is that it sits far above the street.  Without a street presence, per se, few ventured up the stairs when it housed retail establishments, or even noticed it was there.

I snapped this on a "drive by" the other morning
You can just see the man up on the roof on the right, working on the exterior.

A few years ago, someone attempted renovating the interior.  It was going to be a jazz club at that time.  Then the market tanked and the place sat empty again.

Well, last month things started changing!  There was suddenly a dumpster out back, and workmen busily scurrying around.  They've since totally gutted the entire place.

The back view.  The concrete flooring is coming up.  You can see the pile of concrete chunks on the right.
I have no idea what's going with that.

Busybody that I am, I've chatted with various workmen.  They've mentioned that it is quite large on the inside, especially now that the entire interior has been gutted.  It's going to be a restaurant, they say.

One young man who was at the work site said he thought it was going to be something like an Olive Garden.  (Hmmm... really?)

Another person has since told me it will become a "high-end" restaurant, and that the new owners are pouring a lot of money into the place.  I've even heard they are going to put in an escalator to bring people in from the street!  I'm starting to get excited as I see the work progressing.  It will be a fun addition to the neighborhood.

I wasn't really thrilled when the jack hammer starting banging at 6:30 this morning, but I reminded myself this too shall pass.

So, what kind of restaurant do you think is going into this space?

Stay tuned!

The view from my car window