Apparently no one in Redding had ever heard the phrase, “Location, location, location” when the old Ramona’s Mexican Restaurant opened. Or maybe it’s just that the edge-of-downtown location was pretty good way back when. There was a  lively, uh, bar scene and, robust, uh, personal entertainment industry. And of course there was no Mt. Shasta Mall ( Read more... )

A show of hands, please: Who remembers where all the old local taverns/bars/dives were? Better yet, who actually patronized them? Anyone?

Possibly the most infamous was the Oak Grove, which one night became an ungodly flaming cocktail and is now a grassy lot under an oak tree. But there was also 2-Me’s on Hilltop (run by a man named Twomey) where a ( Read more... )

Not everyone loved the old Hatch Cover Restaurant, but it held a warm place in Femme de Joie’s heart from many get-togethers with family and friends over the years. She loved the retro-70s vibe with the piped-in Pablo Cruise-y music, the cozy sofa nook in the lounge, that weird painting of the man in black heading down the stairs in the lighthouse ( Read more... )

It was during the 1970s and early 1980s when a predilection took hold for restaurants to be named after a fictional person, names with little or no association to the actual owners and operators: Ruby Tuesday’s, Tia’s Tex-Mex,  R.J. Monkeyshines,  Applebee’s, and so forth. These sorts of restaurants usually sported a certain sameness -  bar with ( Read more... )

Okay, a show of hands, please: who remembers the Cypress Street Bridge construction? Whoa! A LOT of you. Wasn’t that fun? Trying to figure out where the stop lights were, which lane was which, and God help you if you had to cross the bridge during the noon hour. It’s been completed for a few years now, though when Femme de Joie crosses it she can’t ( Read more... )

Long ago - long ago being relative, of course - there was a Mexican restaurant in Hamilton City which was apparently the bee's knees to Hamilton City diners. The exact name of it escapes Femme de Joie just now, and after doing a brief search on the internet, apparently no one else remembers it either. But what M. de Joie does recall is that there ( Read more... )

Longtime Redding residents will remember the old Italian Cottage on Hilltop Drive, pre-dating even the Mount Shasta Mall. Sawdust was piled high enough on the floor to get in your shoes, they put an olive in your beer, and the minestrone had hard vegetables mixed with squashy ones. Femme de Joie has fond memories of trying to fit a small group of ( Read more... )

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Femme de Joie arrived late to the Dry Creek Station party. She had heard of it but had always assumed it was a sort of roadhouse-cum-greasy spoon with nothing much to justify the drive out east of Redding. Nothing against roadhouses or Ye Olde Greasy Spoon; it's just that she'd prefer the roadhouse to be within crawling distance of home, and there ( Read more... )

When Casa Ramos closed in early 2009, La Casa Cuevas immediately opened in the same spot. Childress not being a main artery, and La Casa Cuevas not being part of a chain, the restaurant seems to be somewhat out of sight, out of mind to potential customers who come off I-5 or are staying at a nearby motel. Femme de Joie has visited several times and ( Read more... )