New in MidTown

MidTown Eats – MidTown eats is now open at 719 South Virginia Street. The restaurant has already earned a 4-star rating on Yelp and I wouldn’t be surprised if it won ‘best burger’ in the next Best of Northern Nevada poll. This is a favorite hotspot for Southwest Reno residents.

Sup – Ok they’re not new, but they moved into a new location, at 669 South Virginia Street. A new 1,000 s.f. outdoor dining deck and expansive indoor dining area are a welcome change, though it was fun to occasionally share a table with strangers at their old location when they reached capacity. The former psychic-house got a major renovation in the process including a new roof. I talked to owner Kasey Christian about it. “We are super excited about all the new growth in MidTown. When we first opened a little over four years ago there was not a lot of reason to even come to this area,” she said.  “It was basically a transit corridor. Over the past several years many great local businesses have decided to take advantage of the cheaper rent and more available storefronts to open up shop. A lot of people have found a true community in the businesses and people that call MidTown home. It is a very cool thing that has developed kinda organically. Now there are more and more people realizing the value in this neighborhood and investing to make it a better place.”

Lime – I heard this one through the rumor mill...Lime will be a salon opening up on the corner of Taylor and Center in the new two-story loft space built across the street from 8 on Center.
Reno Public House – Reno Public House will be a classy new bar where Cyber Infusion used to be located, at 33 St. Lawrence Avenue just west of Crème.

Crème Cafe – Crème opened up just west of Aces Tattoo and is still largely undiscovered. Consider it MidTown’s little secret heaven. It’s where we go for the most amazing crepes in town. Crepes stuffed with fresh ingredients.

Thoma Project – An entity in Midtown known as 701 South Virginia Street recently bought the vacant Thoma land and has a new commercial-centric vision for the property. They also own the CocoBoom building, the Crème/Aces Tattoo buildings, the new building Sup moved into, and the Carter Bros. Ace Hardware building, located a couple of blocks south on Virginia Street.
701 South Virginia Street has a master vision of transforming this entire district into “the downtown that downtown used to be.” The centerpiece of this plan is the project on Thoma and Virginia, which when completed will be a ‘village’ of small retail spaces intended for local businesses. Christiansen looks forward to its completion. “We are really excited for the project that is happening across the street from Süp. It will offer more things for people to come to MidTown to enjoy.”
Each of the buildings in the project will be architecturally different, and a meandering street will provide access from Virginia Street to Thoma. The project will provide extra parking for the entire area, which will be needed if the City of Reno follows through on its Virginia Street Transit Corridor plans, which include eliminating street-parking on Virginia Street to provide a dedicated RAPID bus lane and eventual light rail path. The unnamed Thoma project will be built in phases, and the first phase includes 3 to 4 of the master-planned 17 retail spaces. The retail spaces will be small, architecturally unique anti-strip-mall structures, with some connected and some freestanding. Take a look at the historic buildings in Midtown and you’ll get an idea of what it will resemble. The CocoBoom building across the street has also been renovated, with all the windows being replaced and a new paint job.

New Brewery/Restaurant - Last but certainly not least is the old Crystal Springs building on Taylor and Center. The water dispensaries have moved across the street, the original sign restored and lit up, and the old building is currently being renovated into a brewery/restaurant. The brewery will use the water from the natural well that lies beneath it. Cool yeah? Yeah!

Award Winning Retail and Restaurants

Midtown is a special part of Reno. It's a commercial-centric corridor in the center of town that parallels Virginia and Center Streets, just south of downtown, from about Liberty Street to Mt. Rose Street. Featuring an eclectic range of businesses from one-of-a-kind restaurants to mom-and-pop hardware stores, Midtown is the most small-business-dense section of Reno. A wide range of businesses front Center Street, including Maytan Music Center, Achieve Fitness, Crystal Springs, Aspen Electric, GuiDenby, Rose's Cafe, and more. A block or so off Center Street but still in the MidTown district you will find even more eclectic businesses, such as the highly acclaimed Junkee Clothing Exchange, Sup Restaurant, MidTown Eats, Creme and a group of highly regarded tattoo, body piercing and skate shops. On the southern edge of MidTown, you'll find a newly renovated shopping center on the corner of Virginia and Mt. Rose, featuring the new home of Sushi Pier 2, a great bookstore, Zephyr Books, and more.

Also in this area is Stremmel Gallery, LouLou's Cafe, the original Silver Peak perched up on its hill, and Chapel Lounge, known for their custom cocktails. Quite a few businesses in this area won allocates in Reno's Best Of list, listed below.

MidTown District:
Maytan Music, 777 S. Center, #1 Best place to buy music
Aces Tattoo, 681 S. Virginia, #1 Best place to get tattoo
Black Hole Body Piercing, 912 S. Virginia, #1 Best place to get pierced
LouLou's, 1470 S. Virginia, #1 Best Restaurant, #2 Best fine dining
Great Basin Food Co-Op, 271 Wonder Street, #2 Best grassroots organization
Rad Betty's Clothing, 141 Vesta, #1 Best place to buy vintage clothes
M Home, 1400 S. Virginia, #2 Best independent home furnishings store
Paperback Exchange, 131 Vesta, #2 Best store for used books

8 On Center

This was the first urban infill project for MidTown, and marked a positive turning point for the neighborhood. Completed in 2007 by HabeRae Investments, Inc, , 8 on Center was recently recognized by the City of Reno by receiving  the Mayor's Choice Properties Award.  It has also been featured in numerous publications including Northern Nevada Business Weekly, Nevada Woman, RLife and Reno Magazine. The project oozes beauty, form and function. 8 On Center also was the FIRST residential project in Reno to implement the live/work concept, and most of the residents living there actually use the bottom floor as a workspace. The project is sold out as of September 2007. You'll have to wait for developer Kelly Rae's next project to be completed, right next door....here's a pic of 8 On Center from HabeRae's web site.

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