A superstitious Gary Walton won’t say a word about his plans for
a Spanish wine bar and restaurant until the ink is dry, but one
thing is for sure, he will take down the cartoonish Chips-N-Salsa
marquee bolted to the facade of Old City Hall.
A superstitious Gary Walton won’t say a word about his plans for a Spanish wine bar and restaurant until the ink is dry, but one thing is for sure, he will take down the cartoonish Chips-N-Salsa marquee bolted to the facade of Old City Hall.
“Yes, the sign is coming down, which should make a lot of people in the community very happy,” Walton wrote in an e-mail. “(But) I would prefer to wait to talk until everything has gone through the process and the lease assignment is approved by the city and the ink is dry.”
For almost a year, the Mexican restaurant in the Old City Hall building at the corner of Sixth and Monterey streets has been closed for regular business, rarely hosting private banquets and generally depressing council members who have struggled to revitalize downtown. But the city, which owns the building, and Walton hope all that will change once he and City Administrator Tom Haglund sign a contract transferring the building’s lease from Chips-N-Salsa owner Jim Angelopoulos to Walton.
“I’m just waiting for the contract,” Haglund said Wednesday. “I hope I sign it as soon as possible.”
The city council held several closed sessions throughout the summer to re-negotiate the terms of the lease and ultimately directed staff to hammer things out with Walton, a businessman and developer who serves as downtown Gilroy’s patron saint of sorts. For that reason, council members have faith that Walton and his restaurant, Saffron Tapas Wine Bar & Restaurant, will lead to a downtown renaissance.
“If Gary Walton thinks he can make it, I really got to give him credit because he does do his homework,” Councilman Dion Bracco said. “I don’t believe the downtown will be a success until the Old City Hall is successful. If that becomes real successful, you’ll see more restaurants come in down there.”
That’s certainly not the case now, and when Chips-N-Salsa was open for regular business hours between 2005 and 2007, rowdy customers, unsympathetic city officials and dwindling business plagued Angelopoulos. He repeatedly blamed paltry downtown patronage and a strict city policy against eateries that morph into alcohol-fueled dance halls.
By law, Chips N’ Salsa can serve alcohol and host dancing as long as its kitchen remains open, but city officials and downtown residents complained last year that late-night crowds drank more than they ate. When police turned out to tamper the camaraderie, Angelopoulos likened the attention to “harassment.”
“I understand the city wants the best for its downtown, but it’s unfortunate that things happened the way they did,” Angelopoulos said last summer. “It is what it is, but Gary (Walton) is interested and excited to move in, and I will help (him) in the transition.”
Records with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control show the transfer of Angelopoulos’ alcohol license to Walton as “pending.”
While a wine bar may attract a different crowd, former City Administrator Jay Baksa said restaurants have historically struggled in the 1905 Baroque- and Mission Revival-style building. Baksa lauded the multiple use approach that Gavilan College employed when it leased the building. The arrangement helped launch The Wild Rose House of Taste restaurant, Gallery of Flowers floral shop and a tamale business, but it expired in October 2002.
Before Chips N’ Salsa opened, Glen Gurries ran a restaurant and neglected payments for several months before closing at the end of 2004. Gurries, who was later sued for bankruptcy, sold the remainder of his lease to Angelopoulos, who also owns Scramble’z, a popular three-year-old retro diner aimed at kids and families in Morgan Hill. Before his departure, Gurries improved the building immensely, which lowered the otherwise-$3,000-per-month lease to $1,000 per month, Gilroy’s Finance Director Christina Turner said. That discounted financial arrangement will continue until July 2009, when the rent will begin rising to $3,510 by 2013, Turner said.
