My wife and I just stopped by the JuiceBox wine shop (right on the corner of Arguello and Marshall streets, in the old Kristie Marie’s space) to pick up some wine. Zu Tarazi opened this delightful little business very late in 2020, but because of COVID has pretty much used his storefront just to organize his wines, which he then has been delivering to the doors of his club members. Now, though, the shop is also open for in-store shopping, Wednesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. And once Zu gets his espresso machine fixed, he plans to sell coffee as well; keep an eye out for that! Finally, at long last, he plans to start doing in-store wine tastings.

JuiceBox, for those of you who are not familiar, stocks a wide variety of reasonably priced, sustainable wines from small producers. When you start out with JuiceBox, Zu homes in on the kinds of wine you like, and then recommends wines from his stock that should suit your palate. You’ll certainly find something new at JuiceBox: Zu stocks relatively limited quantities of each wine, and is always discovering new wines and new producers.

My wife and I have been club members from the start, and thus have been getting deliveries from Juice Box ever since it first opened. The wines Zu has chosen for us have almost always been spot on, and have enabled us to discover a whole new world of wine. If you are looking for something different, do make it a point to stop in and check out what Juice Box has to offer. I think you’ll be pleased with what you find.

If you’ve driven along Whipple Avenue in the vicinity of the railroad tracks recently, you may have noticed that the Any Mountain building at 928 Whipple Ave. is at long last getting remodeled for a new tenant. Unlike with JuiceBox, though, I don’t plan to be spending time here: it is slated to become the home of Runway Services, Inc., a cannabis retailer (Runway Services, Inc. is the name of the business who applied to the city for a Cannabis Business Permit, but may not be the name that the shop is given).

Any Mountain closed in early 2020 thanks to COVID, and although some of their stores eventually reopened, I don’t believe their Redwood City location ever did. The building at the corner of Whipple and Stafford streets has been sitting empty for quite some time now, and seemed to rapidly deteriorate. Thus, even though you won’t find me in this particular shop, I’m nevertheless glad that the building won’t be empty for much longer. I’m a big supporter of local businesses of all kinds. Plus, given that Runway Services is just one of the six cannabis retailers that the city has granted permits to, there appears to be demand for this kind of thing. Certainly, if it appeals to you, by all means check them out once they open their doors.

I should note that Runway Services will only be occupying about half of the 17.000-square-foot building. I intend to keep an eye on the building, hoping to see some other business move into the building’s remaining half.

On the subject of new businesses coming to town, just last month a liquor license application was posted in the window of the old Warung Siska restaurant space, at 917 Main St. (next door to where Ghostwood Beer Company might actually open their new restaurant/taproom/cocktail bar-type place someday).

The new restaurant going into the Warung Siska space appears to be called “Rakuzo Izakaya and Dumpling,” and presumably will be a Japanese restaurant of some sort. Wikipedia has this to say about the word Izakaya:

An Izakaya is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. Izakaya are casual places for after-work drinking, similar to a pub, a Spanish tapas bar, or an American saloon or tavern.

The fact that the name of the place includes “and Dumpling” seems to indicate that there will be a bit more food than just snacks. And I’ll note that the liquor license is for an “on-sale beer and wine – eating place” which further indicates that this may be more of a restaurant and less of a place just for drinking. In any case, we’ll likely know within a year.

Out on Woodside Road, I’m pleased to report that we no longer have to look at the badly fire-damaged McDonald’s restaurant at 709 Woodside Rd.:

Recently the building was completely torn down. And they did a very neat job of it, too! A peek behind the green fencing reveals where the restaurant used to stand:

As for what is next for this particular parcel, I can confirm that McDonald’s plans to operate from this location once more. In mid-March they filed a permit with the city for a new 1,670 square-foot McDonald’s with, I believe, two drive-thru lanes. So if any of you used to patronize this particular McDonald’s and wish it hadn’t burned, know that in a year or two you’ll have a brand-new one to enjoy.

Finally, I’ve been waiting for the coffee hut in front of 1080 Main Street to open, and it took an article in the Redwood City Pulse to let me know that it actually opened in March. It turns out that I typically go by this location later in the afternoons — around 3 or 4 o’clock — whereas their hours are Tuesday through Thursday, plus Saturday and Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thus, I’ll need to make an effort to go by at an earlier time to catch them when they’re open. In any case, the article also let me know that the proprietor of this new business is none other than Jihan Bayyari, who previously brought us the delightful (but, sadly, now closed) Cyclismo Cafe.

To all you coffee-lovers out there, check this place out! There is plenty of really nice outdoor seating near the hut, thanks to the folks who built the recently completed building at 1180 Main St.

I’m going to stop there this week. But allow me to remind you that tomorrow, Saturday, May 6, out at the port (at 459 Seaport Ct., specifically) there will be a free concert followed by a “lighted drone show” featuring more than 100 drones producing a variety of images 400 feet above the bay waters. The concert starts at 7, and the drones will take off at 8:45 p.m. There will be food trucks, plus beer and wine available (Ghostwood products included!) — or bring your own. Click here for all the details.