Record Street Brewery opens
During last semester’s spring break, Record Street Café closed its kitchen. Now less than a year later its doors have opened again, this time as a brewery that operates from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Though the transformation from café to brewery is vast, new owner Joe Morandi said it will maintain the same atmosphere.
While under new management and ownership, the newly named Record Street Brewing Company will uphold what its predecessor created and valued.
Located south of campus, the Record Street Brewing Company can be found at 945 Record St.
Morandi said he looks forward to his restaurant being a “place for people to relax and hang out.”
The Record Street Café quickly became known, not only for its food, but also for serving as a cultural nexus of Reno. Holding the concerts of several musicians and portraying work from artists, all from the general area, the café had an interesting formula with a flavor that made it original.
The restaurant now features brewery-oriented décor instead and does not display the same artwork by locally emerging artists as the café once did. However, Morandi said he looks forward to having art shows in the near future.
Also keeping in step with the café, live music will be a staple for the restaurant at night as well as live poetry readings. On the nights these events are scheduled, the establishment will remain open later.
As one of the few changes to the restaurant, the installation of large ovens for the menu’s addition of firewood pizzas will take place in a week. Morandi said the brewery will boast “the best pizza in town” once they have them working.
While featuring salads, a large selection of sandwiches and a pasta bowl, the restaurant will also serve breakfast. On Saturday, the restaurant opened in the morning to test their coffee, pastries, muffins and scones in order to anticipate how well their breakfast foods will do.
For the time being, the brewery does not have their liquor license, which will keep the doors closed late night. Once they do obtain it they will feature their own beer on tap, t and also remain open until 11 p.m.
When the brewery comes into full swing, Morandi looks forward to the same students’ business the café enjoyed. Still remaining its own restaurant, the brewery also aims to fill the void left by the Record Street Café’s closing.
Because of financial woes, the café closed and the building was sold in the spring.
Landlord Fred Atcheson decided to sell the restaurant after much deliberation with buyers that lasted for months up until the closing.
Sean O’Hair, ex-manager of the café, said he worked hard to create a unique dining experience by giving the Record Street Café a distinctive personality. He said he became discouraged of this decision due to all the time and energy he put into it. Yet, his resentment took a back seat to the understanding of the fact that locally-owned restaurants cannot compete with large chains, he said.
The Record Street Brewing Company will soon be another staple in the campus community like the Record Street Café once did.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Not firewood pizzas.. They are gas burning brick pizza ovens that came from another local pizza establishment
September 24th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Cameron, I have no idea who you talked to but alot of your information is wrong. I work there and reading through this, no offense but it’s not right. I suggest you talk to people before making assumptions. This is a piece of poor journalism.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Hey Cameron this is Natalie Sandy. I was checking to see if you had a facebook when this popped up. email me back if you’d like, i would love to hear from you :) sandy@wisc.edu