HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018 08-26 New business opening in former Stargate space MAPLEWOOD REVIEW
New business opening in
former Stargate space
Submitted by admin on Wed, 07/25/2018 - 12:00am
Grocery & Nepali Kitchen setting up shop at Rice and Larpenteur
Marjorie Otto/Review • Grocery & Nepali Kitchen, a family restaurant/grocery store, will soon open for business in the
former location of Stargate Bar & Nightclub, near the corner of Rice Street and Larpenteur Avenue in Maplewood.
The building has been vacant since the city closed the nightclub in February 2017 after a chaotic shooting at the bar
that injured five people.
The Maplewood City Council approved a wine license July 9 for Grocery & Nepali Kitchen, a new restaurant and
grocery store that will operate out of the former Stargate Bar & Nightclub space, near the corner of Rice Street and
Larpenteur Avenue.
The building has been vacant since the city closed the nightclub in February 2017 after a shooting occurred on the
property, injuring five people. The shooting was only the most recent of several violent incidents that occurred over
more than 13 years and multiple changes in ownership of the bar.
According to a February 2017 interview with Paul Schnell, then Maplewood’s public safety director, there were 12
incidents at Stargate in 2015, including a homicide that occurred in the parking lot, and in 2016, there were 21
incidents.
Council member Kathleen Juenemann explained during the July 9 meeting that the council is a little “gun-shy” about
the building because of its violent history.
“I think you need to do some kind of a ceremony where you get that out of that building,” she told Grocery & Nepali
Kitchen co-owner Parmananda Khatiwoda.
A family restaurant and grocery store
City Clerk Andrea Sindt said that Grocery & Nepali Kitchen will occupy two suites in the strip mall located at 1700
Rice Street. Suite K will house the grocery store and Suite J will house the kitchen and restaurant.
Khatiwoda said that he and five other owners, who all come from Bhutan, have been working on the
grocery/restaurant business for about nine months, and they expect the grocery store to open in the next couple of
weeks and for the restaurant to open in about two months.
Sindt noted that the owners are currently working with building, health and fire inspectors to attain the permits
required for their business to open.
Khatiwoda added that he and the other owners applied for a liquor license for the restaurant portion of the business,
so adults can order a glass of wine with their meals, if they choose, following a similar business model to Applebee’s
or Olive Garden, though he added that the food will be quite different from those restaurants.
The focus of Grocery & Nepali Kitchen is on creating a family-friendly atmosphere, Khatiwoda said, distancing the
new business from the space’s former tenant. “It’s not a bar. It’s a family restaurant.”
Khatiwoda added that because none of the owners have experience selling alcohol in the United States, they have
scheduled a meeting with Public Safety Director Scott Nadeau and plan to pursue any training he recommends.
“We’re happy to have you there,” said Mayor Nora Slawik. “We just cannot have anybody under 21 drinking. I mean,
that is just really the issue, and of course there are a lot of people who might want to test this. The training and the
enforcement is just really serious.”
Juenemann advised Khatiwoda that it will be well worth his time to get all of the restaurant’s employees trained on
how to properly sell alcohol.
“We want people to have a good time there, and there’s a part of me that’s quite excited about this process because I
was working on the Rice/Larpenteur community project over there, and one of the things we were talking about is
ethnic restaurants, and so this is our chance to do something, and it’s your chance to shine,” she said.
Juenemann added that if the owners do a good job, it will benefit not only their business, but the City of Maplewood
and all other businesses near the Rice/Larpenteur intersection.
“We don’t want to jeopardize anything we are planning there and the dream we have,” Khatiwoda said. “We really
want to succeed.”
– Aundrea Kinney can be reached at 651-748-7822 or akinney@lillienews.com