Things are looking up for Coconut Grove

I am finding that a lot of the Grove activity is shifting back to Commodore Plaza from the very center of town, or maybe it's just evening out and Commodore is getting its due. I caught the Gazitua family leaving LoKal, the burger place, last Friday night.

When I was a kid, Commodore Plaza was the "center of the Grove," I really don't remember much going on at the other end, there was Oak Feed and I remember a Winn-Dixie, where the Bookstore is now and a few other things like the i Ching building, and a bank, but I don't remember many people going toward the Mary Street end, where Mayfair is, until Mayfair was built.

Now it seems things have shifted back to Commodore. Friday night you could see people from one end of the block to the other, it started with a party at Greenstreets and ended up at the other end on Grand Avenue, where LoKal, the burger place, and Bombay Darbar, the Indian restaurant pack people in. Many of us sat outside The Loft, the boutique, at the little table and chairs out there and we ate burgers from LoKal, and a friend mentioned that most of the clientel at LoKal on that particular Friday were people from outside the Grove. Lots of young people, too, coming in from other areas. There was a line waiting to eat at 10 pm.

Earlier in the day, there were lots of people all over the Grove. I was told that public schools were closed that day, so that could be the reason, also the weather has been so nice, so people want to be out and about. Gigi and I had a long, leisurely lunch at Bombay Darbar and people from the neighborhood stopped by to visit, that was nice.

So it looks like things are looking up for the Grove. I am hearing good things from merchants who have seen an upswing in traffic.