Sign could be sending the wrong message
Even though it's a nice-looking awning, I'd take down the Tuscana Incredibly Italian sign on the old State Bank building at the corner of State and Third streets in Geneva.
This piece of Geneva history has housed some fine restaurants in the past three decades, but it's empty and for lease now. The awning advertising the most recent tenant only serves as a reminder that a restaurant business in that location failed.
If the focus is on another upscale restaurant eventually taking over that location, we'll likely have to wait until more people are convinced - and more people are working - that we are on our way back from this recession.
It is fun to speculate about what could do well in such a significant corner of a downtown. Geneva has plenty of Mexican restaurants now, and it doesn't seem like the proper setting for a Chinese restaurant with a carryout service. And there are some good Italian food choices right down Third Street.
If we stick with the upscale theme, would it be possible to ever lure a Morton's or Gibson's steakhouse? Could a Roy's seafood restaurant or a Rosebud Café make a go of it in the far West suburbs? Those places prefer busy cities with big populations and convention visitors.
With Isabella's to the west and Rain to the east on State Street both being forced to close down, one has to wonder. But that old State Bank building has something all of the others did not - it stands front-and-center in the heart of Geneva's main retail sectors.
And it's got that beautiful awning to thrust the restaurant name into the public eye.
Whoever thought, Part 1: Whoever thought of the locations for musicians at Geneva's Music in the Alleys last Saturday has a good ear for how music can blend together.
The musical acts along Third Street, from some young punk rockers near Erday's to folk acoustic in front of Cocoon's, were the perfect distance apart so that the sound of one faded as soon as you approached another.
It was another Geneva event blessed with good weather this year, and those strolling along Third Street certainly seemed to enjoy it.
Whoever thought, Part 2: Whoever thought of planning the "Taste of the Plaza" in St. Charles last Sunday inside the new parking garage along First Street must have had a feeling that no matter how many times downtown officials were going to plan this event, it was going to rain.
It was dry for a couple of hours Sunday before raining, but St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte noted, "We fooled Mother Nature this time."
Two other attempts to hold this party were washed out, but many folks attended this official dedication of the first phase of the First Street project and enjoyed food from numerous restaurants.
All vendors were busy, but I made my rounds: A "filet slider" from Rox City, a taco from Miguel's and a hot dog from Pop's Place. I topped it off with a chocolate chip cookie the size of my head from Breadsmith.
And, somehow, no bellyache afterward.