The DOWNTOWN Report: Early December 2024

By Mike Ritto on December 4, 2024

In The Pokey, Mon

Oh, never mind, all the commotion turned out to be 200 plus Pokémon Go players scavenging all over our downtown at about 10:30 on a Saturday morning. The streets were lined with mostly young fans, all obviously having a great time.

Updates

Mamma Mia

Yeah, we keep our promises here, and here are the promised updates. Mamma Mia, two of us dined there, and we treated ourselves to a number of lunch menu items, food, and libations. As others have said, the service, atmosphere, and of course, the main course, the food were all very good. The salads were excellent, and the eggplant sandwich (that stuff is not easy to prepare) was perfect, but everything was as promised. What a friendly place! It’s always nice when they talk to you; thank you for coming in, and make sure you know they want you back, as we will do for the dinner menu. This is not a food critic column, but everyone I have heard from indicates this is going to be a hit, so there is weight in that. Give it a try, 132 W Commonwealth.

All The Arts for All the Kids

All The Arts is up and running at full speed now, and on November 30, there were three sessions for creating fused glass ornaments. Two of the sessions were for families, and there was one for adults. On December 5, it’s time for Holiday Ukelele, where your family can learn to play a Holiday song on the ukulele. Hot chocolate, cookies, and, of course, ukuleles will be provided. This info is just a sample of what is happening at the new space located at 114 N Harbor Blvd. Go to kw.allthearts@gmail.com with questions, or visit the website at http://www.allthearts.org. Their mission is developing, sustaining, and supporting the arts as an intrinsic part of every child’s education. (Read more about All the Arts for All the Kids here)

The Cellar Anniversary

Back when monthly Fullerton Downtown Business Association meetings were held, Ernest Zingg would occasionally invite all to come by afterward and share some extraordinary bottles of wine. His wine cellar was on a par with any on the entire west coast, and he even stocked some bottles that were over $1,000, mostly for foreign travelers who expected to find them at The Cellar, and likely, only at the Cellar.

Since his office was right next door for many years, we got to know each other well, and there were times when he and I would head upstairs to share wine and fine stogies. When the law was passed making smoking indoors illegal, it put an end to that and pretty much wiped out his clientele coming in from Japan and they were the big spenders demanding those old vintage wines.

His son was not a US citizen and had an impossible time trying to become one, so Ernest knew if his son could not take over the restaurant, he would need to find someone who could. Enter Ryan Dudley. Yes, it’s time to honor another of our most cherished restaurants since Ryan purchased The Cellar 20 years ago.

There was a recent celebration with family and friends closest to Ryan and his wife Brianne at the spectacular Charleston on Commonwealth. Ernest was on hand, celebrating both the 20-year mark and the 55th Anniversary of the restaurant. Congratulations on making sure a downtown institution, which is one of our very finest, stayed true to its roots.

New In Town

The long-awaited Rio Do Brazil Steak House is under construction right next door to neighbor Lagos Mexican Cuisine. If the owners accomplish anything near what they did in constructing Lagos, it will also be spectacular. Looks like it will be quite a while before it opens but the good news is we can now see progress is being made.

The Year In Review

Pretty sure your eyes glazed over when you read that headline, but let us know if you do want a review, maybe in the next, final 2024 issue. Yeah, you, who never notices the email address at the top of this page and contacts the newspaper directly instead, ha. Now is your chance. BTW, thanks for the nice messages to the editor and the emails we do get, spurring us on. Fullerton needs a local newspaper, and this one delivers. By mail, that is. Please consider subscribing at http://www.FullertonObserver.com or mail check with name, phone number (in case we can’t read your writing), and address to Fullerton Observer, P.O. Box 7051, Fullerton, CA 92834..