Staff photo
A beloved Dickson Street restaurant that had been shuttered for more than a year due to the pandemic has reopened.
Popular coffee shop and breakfast cafe Arsaga’s at the Depot officially reopened to serve coffee and pastries on Monday.
The restaurant was well known for its crepes and other breakfast fare, but that full menu may not return to the location anytime soon, Ava Arsaga told us.
The site is near a much-discussed downtown parking deck project as part of the Cultural Arts Corridor project that will soon be under construction in the area.
“We plan to keep that (coffee and pastry) model up until the parking deck construction starts, after which we will close again, await completion of construction, take a look at the new world, and decide what we want to do there next, if anything,” she said.
The Arsaga family this year opened their Mill District restaurant at 481 S. School Ave. in the old Greenhouse Grill space, and the idea of running two full-service restaurant seems unlikely at this time.
Moonsnow / Photo: Arsaga’s
“We are 99.999% certain we will not re-open as a restaurant there again,” Arsaga said. “We’ve moved our kitchen wing and crew to the Mill and no one in the company has any interest in running two restaurants at once because we want to be happy.”
Arsaga said the family hasn’t ruled out trying another concept in the space in the future.
During the pandemic last summer, they served Moonsnow (a hybrid shaved-ice/ice cream treat with fresh toppings and syrups) out of the location, and that could make a return.
Still, the Arsagas wanted to reopen the restaurant to give their customers a chance to visit and spend some time in the space.
“We’re thinking about this little interval as time people can come spend at the Depot again and maybe say goodbye as they say hello,” she said.
For now, Arsaga’s at the Depot will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The restaurant is located at 548 W. Dickson St.
