New to me!

Granted, I've been living in a baby-fueled hibernation, but two new additions to the downtown scene jumped out at me in the last few days. You may think this is old news, but if you haven't been cruising around too much (like moi!) you might find my two cents on two new stores interesting.

First after the early death of Houlihan's on the ground floor of Target, that big fat space sat vacant for ages. BUT NOW there are promising signs in the window advertising something called Rodizio Grill. Never heard of it? Me either - but it bills itself as "the" Brazilian Steakhouse. Nice!

Their website proclaims their outspoken Braziliness: "As Ambassadors of Brazil, we welcome you to our home and invite you to celebrate with us the warmth, alegria, and abundance of Rodizio Grill's authentic Brazilian dining experience." It also features waiter types displaying an impressive collection of meat on skewers (somehow that sounds dirty...). Here you'll see a terrible picture of the window, but it gives you the idea. Their website indicates that it's opening March 2012. I'm eager to see if they make that space "the" place to be.

In the Ridgeway Shopping Center (you know, the one with useful stores and a useless parking lot) there's a new storefront called Hand & Stone. It's a massage joint! And not even the skeevy kind!! I'm pretty pumped about this new neighbor. They have some local specials, which you can see here. There's a menu of their services here. It includes old favorites like Swedish and Hot Stone Massages, plus some things I've never heard of - Cranial Sacral? There's a good selection of facials and waxing on more parts than you'd ever want to think about. I'm already planning my day there - spend 45 minutes looking for a parking space, completely stressing myself out in the process and then crushing the knots in my shoulders with hot stones...