I can't say for sure when Aztecas, the Mexican restaurant on Robb Dr. closed, but I'm guessing it's a fairly recent development. Only a couple of months ago, all seemed well at the trendy (ish) place, which served up above-average fare from south of the border.
Along with an impressive tequila selection, they even had those really cool Mexican sodas like you see at the grocery store. It was a Mexican joint actually fit for a date. Whatever that is.
Sadly, as I drove by today, I had to shake my head and stare as another local business had clearly bitten the dust. It's only been a few months since The Purple Bean, Too, next door closed, forcing me to drive over to the original location off W. 7th St.
So, adios, Aztecas. We barely knew ya, but you'll be missed.
Never never again. That's my approach to having to stand in line at the post office, thanks to the merciful addition of the Automated Postal Center at the Northwest Reno Post Office (Peavine Station).
I sell books on Amazon as a side business (my pack-rat tendencies are finally paying off, sorta), so I mail a lot of stuff. In the past, that meant rolling the dice and hoping you wouldn't get stuck in a line out the door. Given that the post office is also in the business of passports, if someone with an itch to go to Paris gets ahead of you, you're in for a long wait.
But no more.
They added the machine about a month ago, and it's a life saver. Just walk up, answer a couple of questions, punch in a ZIP code, drop the package/letter on the self-serve scale and, voila, your postage is printed out.
Only one complaint, and it's a minor quibble. I like to ship Media Mail with some of my heavier items, and the machine only offers 1st Class through Next Day service. Fix that, and you've got a customer for life.
Sometimes, nothing beats pounding the pavement with old-fashioned street-level marketing. Such is the case with Beck's brew house, which appears to be open for business up off of Kings Row.
This makes twice now that I've heard about the new place. Yesterday, it was on twitter. So, spending a few bucks at Kinko's and hitting the intertubes with some word-of-mouth will hopefully pay off for these guys.
Now, I just hope they are forward-thinking enough to actually serve Becks beer. Because, if they don't, you just know that's a mistake they'll never live down.
Reno blogger James Ball was born in 1973 and raised in North Georgia, attending the University of Georgia in Athens. He and his wife, Pam, moved to Lake Tahoe in 1995, eventually settling in Reno in the early 2000s. They live in Northwest Reno with their two boys, Thomas and Alex. James is a web editor at the Reno Gazette-Journal.
