Savoring a good year, looking forward to 2023
Overall, 2022 was a pretty good year when it came to the Bakersfield dining scene.
We landed both a Cracker Barrel and Dave & Buster’s, two chains that had been dancing around in local news. Business has seemed steady at both, thanks to this town’s obsession with chains.
A number of locally owned restaurants also set up shop this year, many of them downtown. That includes The Botanist, 18th Street Bar and Grill, El Cuscatleco, Zama Latin American Cuisine, Cask Strength Bar & Kitchen and Off The Rails, a craft beer tap lounge and bottle shop that I include here because it has provided a pop-up home for Bucky’s Hot Chicken, which parks behind the 18th Street business.
Fredo’s should also be on the list, with a limited menu of pizzas and an assortment of cocktails, many of which have unique presentations. Bar manager Cristo
Arencibia, who also helped develop the bar programs at Zama, Foxtail Lounge and The 18Hundred, has brought his A-game to libations such as the Goat, made with mezcal and goat cheese, and the Councilman, a blend of gin, St. Germain, Luxardo cherries and more named for Ward 2 Councilman (and valued customer) Andrae Gonzales.
It will be exciting to see what the Spaniard Arencibia will bring to La Siesta Española, his tapas bar that is set to open in the new year at G Street near Locale Farm to Table.
Another exciting opening was El Puesto Cocina y Cantina, the second location for the business that opened an outdoor dining experience on Brundage Lane during the pandemic. It’s a wonderful Mexican restaurant that knows to take itself too seriously, with a “chica sexy” cocktail served in a mug in the shape of a curvy woman.
El Puesto’s Brundage Lane space will be remodeled (after the nearby gas station is torn down) and a third location is set to open in the new year.
Speaking of remodeling, Milt’s underwent a remodel that had readers reaching out to me to find out when it would reopen. It is open again under new owner Roger Coughenour, the Old River Grill restaurateur who bought the Knudsen Drive coffee shop from Mark Huggs of 24th Street Cafe, for breakfast and lunch only, closing at 2:30 p.m.
When it comes to longtime businesses like Milt’s (open since 1964) and Mossman’s Coffee Shop (serving fish and chips and more since 1952), Bakersfield supports its beloved institutions. The downtown coffee shop reached its self-declared milestone of 1 million orders of its most popular dish with a giveaway and other fanfare.
Although not in business as many years, Locale Farm to Table celebrated its seventh anniversary serving downtown diners.
That’s a quick rundown of the year that was, but what can we expect in 2023?
We’re due for Bakersfield’s first Chipotlane, a Chipotle drive-thru, that’s headed to the Belcourt Village shopping center in Seven Oaks along with 19th Hole Bar and Grill, a family-owned, American-style restaurant, and Gelato Smitten, a sweet shop from Stasie and Shai Bitton. The area will also welcome Toastique, a boutique gourmet toast and juice bar highlighting fresh, seasonal and responsibly sourced products.
Also on tap nearby is the longawaited (by me and fellow tea fan Beth Chodak) Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at the Shoppes at Seven Oaks Business Park.
Another Chick-fil-A is coming to Rosedale Highway, in the area once home to Pier 1 Imports. Perhaps this will relieve traffic at its other location at Stockdale Highway and California Avenue.
The tapas bar is coming downtown, and will be a companion stop to nearby business Campo Bar + Bottle for the oenophiles in town.
Hector Miranda, owner of the new coffee shop Adventure Awaits (formerly Paper Plane) on 19th Street shared news via Instagram recently about another new restaurant coming downtown, so we’ll keep our eyes on social media for details in the new year.
Suffice it to say there will be plenty to drink, sample and savor in 2023.