Four new openings in downtown Modesto include vegan eatery, boutique, cafe, bar
Downtown Modesto is a bustle of activity again after remaining largely static throughout the pandemic — with only a small handful of openings and smaller handful of closings over the past 15 months.
But now as the county enters what we all hope will be the final days of the COVID-19 outbreak, Modesto’s downtown shopping district has seen a flurry of openings starting in July, the first full month free of most pandemic restrictions since March 2020.
In addition to the move of Chefs of New York to a larger location on 13th street as reported last week (and the pending arrival of the new Lo-Fi brunch spot in the old Chefs space on J Street), this month has already seen three openings/reopenings and one pending opening in the city’s center.
The first out of the July gates was the new Starbucks on J and Ninth streets. The ubiquitous coffee seller has moved into its newly constructed cafe, right across from the transit center at the start of downtown’s busiest shopping street.
The new construction replaced the former Skewers Kabob House building (which before that was the long-running and beloved Chinese eatery Lotus Restaurant), which was torn down to make way for the standalone Starbucks with a drive-thru. This is the downtown area’s second Starbucks; the other site is eight blocks away on H Street in the Smart & Final shopping center.
The new Starbucks is also about a block away from where the city had its first downtown Starbucks, at the corner of 10th and K streets, two doors down from the Brenden Theatres. That site opened in 1999 and closed in 2011, the victim of not having the space to expand with a drive-thru.
The new Starbucks, at 906 J St. in Modesto, is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. For more information call 209-929-0006 or visit www.starbucks.com.
Plant-based cafe finds permanent Modesto spot
Walking east from the new Starbucks, you can find the reopened The Farmacy, downtown Modesto’s all plant-based, vegan and gluten-free cafe. The eatery first opened as a pop-up in May 2020 in front of one of owner Erin Doran’s other businesses, The Century on 10th Street. Doran has built a small empire on the block, owning wedding venue The Century, shared working space Nine3One, floral shop Rosé Bouquet and now The Farmacy.
Now The Farmacy is in its new, permanent location a few doors away from The Century in the former Krazy Rolls cinnamon roll bakery space. The new cafe is currently only open for takeout or delivery, but will soon open its dining room for inside service as well. Doran closed The Farmacy altogether in February, with plans to retool the cafe which had transitioned to meal prep last fall during the pandemic.
The Farmacy has returned with a full menu, and Doran said in addition to being all plant-based and vegan food, everything is also now gluten-free. The cafe serves a variety of salads, wraps, scrambles and bowls as well as fresh-made drinks and other blended offerings. Expect indoor dining to debut in about a month or so.
“This is my favorite block. When we decided that we wanted to go ahead and make The Farmacy a permanent cafe versus just the pop-up we did it here,” Doran said.
Her team also is working on building an enclosed back patio for the cafe, which would close to double its capacity with about 25 seats inside and another 25 outside. The patio should be ready by late summer, early fall.
The Farmacy, at 907 10th St. in Modesto, is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. For more information call 209-422-6762 or visit downtownfarmacy.com.
Women’s clothing boutique opens on 13th Street
Keep traveling farther east downtown and you’ll hit the new Zyanya Boutique on 13th Street, around the corner from the State Theatre. The new women’s clothing boutique is from owner Christina Barajas, who named the shop after her youngest daughter.
A year ago, Barajas launched her online-only boutique by the same name selling apparel and accessories aimed largely at younger women. She has found success selling a mix of trendy and affordable styles, and wanted to open her first brick-and-mortar retail location.
“Downtown is where I grew up and I always wanted to have something around there,” she said.
The former barber’s shop space she moved into has been vacant for several years. Barajas said it took about five months to get it ready for its July 2 grand opening.
Zyanya Boutique, at 1004 13th St. in Modesto, is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information call 209-232-6991 or visit zyanyaboutique.com.
New retro-themed dance club opening downtown
And finally, Blade & Bottles is giving way to retro nostalgia.
The combination cocktail bar and hair salon opened in January 2019 on 15th Street, with its unique dual concept. But those two industries couldn’t have been worse positioned for pandemic shutdowns, as hair stylists and bar keepers found themselves out of work for large chunks of time. So Blades & Bottles owners Adam Soares and Allison Dowdy shut down the business recently.
The new owner is prolific Modesto bar owner and restaurateur Roman Wagner, who also owns P. Wexford’s Pub, Rivets American Grill, Nino’s Place and The Boardroom in town as well as Escalon’s Valley Inn.
Wagner said he plans to open Retro Bar in the new downtown space, hopefully by the end of July and if not then in early August. As the name suggests, the new nightspot will be a dance club and bar focused on the music of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
This will be Wagner’s second downtown Modesto location; he opened The Boardroom about one block away on 16th Street in 2011. But with Retro opening he has retooled The Boardroom to be more of a craft cocktail lounge, instead of a small dance spot.
Retro will use the upstairs space, previously where the hair salon was located in Blades & Bottles, as its dance floor. Wagner said he hopes to attract an older, established crowd with its focus on older music.
“I figured there’s not a lot of places for people in my age group, people who are established,” he said. “I’m not talking about the younger drinkers, we’ve got enough of those places for them in town and wish them the best.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
