lifeisajourney

It appears that the site of the old Bruegger's Bagels next to Starbucks on Pine St is finally being filled. As I drove into town this morning, I noticed work being done and a sign for Honey Baked Ham Cafe on the facade.

It seemed to be back on time today as I drove by...and I thought it looked nice.

Here are the details from the SHJ today: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20110608/ARTICLES/110609719/0/FRONTPAGE

It has reopened as Shaan Restaurant, apparently with the same owners as Handi Indian Restaurant in Greenville. The food was good - about the same as before.

That's good to hear. Hopefully this third incarnation of the Indian restaurant will be successful.

When I was over there yesterday, I saw an empty Old Navy at the old site and renovations at the new site that looked nowhere near ready to house a store. I was surprised that Old Navy would go any length of time without being open at one of the two locations.

I noticed that Namaste on E. Main looked empty the other afternoon when I drove by. Please tell me it hasn't closed! Spartanburg needs at least one good Indian restaurant, and I was always please with their product (before and after the name change).

I noticed that the former bank building on the corner of Main St and Pine St (next to Sub Station II) has reopened as Wize Guyz Home Entertainment (http://www.wizeguyzonline.com). I'm glad to see something go in there.

Has their been any activity on this study recently? I frequent the trail and would love to see the area around it begin to grow with new businesses. I think the skate park on Union Street is a good start.

Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt has opened up in Boiling Springs on Hwy 9 across from the Ingles. I haven't tried it out yet, but it appeared to be busy on New Years Day when I was at Ingles. It looks like a national chain, and this is only their second store in SC (Haywood Rd is the other): Tutti Frutti Yogurt

Confirmation in the SHJ: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20101218/ARTICLES/12181003/1086?Title=Toys-R-Us-moving-on-west-side-of-Spartanburg

An employee at Toys R Us told my wife that a Babies R Us would fill one of the spots in that shopping center. Currently, Haywood Rd in Greenville is the closest Babies R Us.

Five Spices recently changed ownership and reopened as Namaste. The buffet price actually dropped to $6.99, and it seemed to be as good as, if not better than, Five Spices. There have been a few cosmetic changes on the inside, but it remains relatively the same as before. The Herald Journal had a feature on it today: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20100513/ARTICLES/5131000/1101?Title=East-side-eatery-Namaste-translates-to-good-food

According to WYFF, YES! Southwest to Greenville. More details to come. http://www.wyff4.com/news/23518275/detail.html

They must have changed it pretty quickly then because it's showing the Coliseum when I click on the link.

It is called II Samuels (http://www.ribaultcatering.com/ii-samuels-restaurant). I haven't eaten there, but it sits right at the beginning of the rail trail so I see it a lot.

I recently tried Sahara, the new Mediterranean restaurant across from Ingles on 29. It was really tasty with a good variety on the lunch buffet. I'm glad Spartanburg has a good Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant now...I'll be back.

I believe there's a sign out front.

I noticed this when I was driving around earlier today. I'll have to check it out soon. Five Spices switched their lunch format to a buffet a few months ago. It was a quasi-buffet before that where you could eat all you wanted but they would serve it to you.

Tough loss for the U.S., but note that three of the team's starters yesterday played college soccer in the Upstate: two from Furman (Clint Dempsey and Ricardo Clark) and one from Clemson (Onyewu). That's quite a validation of the level of play at our area schools.

The Greenville Drive and Fluor Field will host the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament next Wednesday through Sunday. There should be a lot of good action here - the SoCon is rated 7th out of 31 Division I conferences in the nation and could get three teams in the NCAA Tournament this year. Furman, The Citadel and College of Charleston are instate teams who should be playing. http://www.greenvilledrive.com/news/index....?article_id=455 http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbm...;ATCLID=1579095

Flour Field is hosting the Southern Conference baseball tournament in 2009, and I imagine that would preclude them from hosting the ACC tournament because the schedules would overlap.

Wow, that's a surprise, even considering the current housing market. They have a neighborhood in Boiling Springs off of Parris Bridge road that is huge but only has about 5 or 6 houses/townhomes completed. I would hate to be a homeowner in there who can't expect anything to be built next door.

As alluded to above, Furman moved from this exact location in the 1950s for the very same reason: lack of space to expand and grow. An area west of downtown may be best suited for a large entity such as a university.

Just a slight correction: the first year the Southern Conference Tournament was here it drew the most fans in the history of the event. From what I hear, Sheer and his group just had a bad business plan and didn't make any money off of it. That's why it never returned.