June 9, 2009

Noeteca: Still Coming Soon

A little bit of renovation and a pending alcohol permit are the only hurdles left for Noeteca wine bar/cafe to open in the old Last Laugh coffee shop. The holdup? Grumpy neighbors.

Co-owners Scott McDonald and Alex Kamprasert (also of Chloe’s Café) report via Menupages that while most neighbors have been supportive, a few have complained to the city that the café was open and operating without permits, that they had live music, that they had a full kitchen instead of a café… your basic nightmare. "Every time a complaint comes in, we have to get it addressed by all the different agencies, and sometimes people are on vacation and it's just hard to schedule," McDonald said. "It took us contacting the office of Bevan Dufty to help us clear away some of that."

Originally slated for April 1, the new planned opening is July 1.

Noeteca
1551 Dolores St (@ Valley St)

[MP: Noeteca Nears the Valley]
[NVSF: Update: Noeteca]
[NVSF: Announced: Noeteca]

9 comments:

Lisa Paul said...

Jeez, people don't want to let chains in. Then they bury poor independent business owners in complaints. Listen, you don't support the latter, you get the former who are the only groups who can fight through the bureaucracy and stay solvent during it.

Anonymous said...

i can't wait...seems like many think that this will be a great (and lively) addition to the 'hood.

why are a good number of people in this city so passive aggressive? good grief!

Anonymous said...

Is this place EVER going to open? July 1 came and went and it still looks like a tornado hit this place. I'd say its months away, if it EVER opens. give me my coffee shop back!

Anonymous said...

The comments above were written by people who don't live near a business. That area has been primarily residential.

Adding a liquor license, promoting outdoor seating, and having music is well and good, as long as you don't personally have to go to bed before 2, and go to work yourself. It is not unreasonable for neighbors to be concerned about noise and drunks.

Anonymous said...

Really? Noeteca is going to be a hotspot for drunks until 2 am?

I live around the corner from the Dubliner. I can hear drunks singing in the smoking room until all hours on some nights. Not that big a deal.

I can't imagine that a wine bar/cafe is going to be any worse. It's not Ruby Skye, for Chrissakes.

Scott McDonald, Co-Owner of Noeteca said...

It's exciting to see that so many people are interested in the progress and tribulations of our new café and are as anxious as us to see it open. We hoped to open in way back in April and the days keep flying past. Sadly, we weren't able to begin work in the space until the beginning of June. The transfer of our beverage license was finally completed at the very end of July. Things aren’t progressing as fast as we had hoped, but they’re still moving forward. Our new plan is to open during the first half of September, but there are still too many variables involved to be completely certain. I also have to clarify that we believe it was only one or two neighbors that filed the original complaints. Overall, everyone has been very supportive. We plan for the café to be open from 7 AM in the morning for all the early birds, until 10 PM, seven days a week. Noeteca will ultimately be very calm, relaxing, and family-friendly, migrating from coffee and brunch during the day to wine and dinner in the evenings. We will do our best to ensure that we are respectful neighbors. We also hope to completely launch our website, www.noetecacafe.com, by the end of August so people can learn more about us and see how things are going. We hope to see everyone very soon!

Anonymous said...

i cant wait until this wine bar opens! i'm excited for a new local spot to relax and enjoy some wine.

So what kind of wine will the wine bar be focusing on? domestic? international? hopefully some spanish wine!!!

Godot said...

Gosh Anonymous, you're so excited! I can just TELL! Ooo!

Bring back Cork & Bottle, for crying out loud.

My favorite local spot to relax and enjoy some wine is my living room or back yard...costs less than $10 a glass too.

Yet another "who needs it" place in Noe...

Anonymous said...

They are open! They are finally open! And the food was great! Be sure to try the chocolate toffee pudding! Your taste buds will do cartwheels!