Jeyon Falsini, music promoter at iS venue above Si Tapas, has announced the venue closing as of October 1. Read the Hook article here. His twitter feed is here. While this may not be a surprise to some people I think it puts a big dent in the variety of places for both local, regional, and national bands to play here. We just don’t have a good mid-sized venue anymore. We have tiny bars and the Pavilion (which local bands just don’t play and the season lasts half the year). It’s a good thing the Southern is open and maybe Fry’s Spring will have more shows? It’s just a bummer that we’ve lost another venue – and this is the second time we’ve lost this space! Hopefully someone will see some value in reopening it.
#1 by Loki on September 28, 2009 - 10:38 am
It’s a bummer, for sure.
#2 by rhymes with orange on September 28, 2009 - 12:55 pm
I saw The Features there for 7 bucks. UNREAL.
No wonder they weren’t making much profit.
#3 by Donk on September 28, 2009 - 1:19 pm
Yeah. It’s a shame. I saw a lot of great shows when it was still Starr Hill, and only a handful since it was ‘iS’.
No matter the name, it has stood out as my favorite venue in town (at least as long as the Pavilion continues booking like it is). Hopefully, it will be re-opened under a new name before too long.
#4 by rhymes with orange on September 29, 2009 - 9:54 am
the Newsplex is stating that BOTH Si and Is are closing.
#5 by Donk on September 29, 2009 - 9:56 am
So I noticed. Si Tapas sucked anyway.
Or am I allowed to say that without involving a three person subjective review board (which will never actually happen)?
#6 by loki on September 29, 2009 - 10:03 am
There is a 3 person review board – it’s the three commenters on this site! And yes it did suck. I liked their empenadas a whole hell of a lot, but Mas has empenadas now too – right?
#7 by rhymes with orange on September 29, 2009 - 10:21 am
I have not been to Mas (a sin, apparently, in Cville) so I can’t compare Si Tapas to that. I didn’t think Si Tapas was all that bad. I really enjoyed the size of the plates (a little larger than traditional tapas size – more like “small plates”) and the fish tacos were the best I’ve had in Cville. I won’t “miss” Si Tapas because as I’ve mentioned in the past I don’t get too attached to restaurants here – except maybe Milan. I could guzzle their masala sauce by the quart.
Mas lovers: have you ever been to Jaleo in the DC metro area? Now that’s some good tapas.
#8 by Loki on September 29, 2009 - 10:26 am
Mas is pretty damn good. I’ll be there tonight, in fact! I will say that you should definitely go soon. They do get kinda crowded as the evening goes on, especially on Thurs/Fri/Sat but they serve food late and have a great beer/wine selection too.
#9 by Donk on September 29, 2009 - 10:38 am
rwo. Mas is awesome. Expect to wait a long time, but I’d recommend liquor drinks over beer/wine. They have a nice heavy pour that makes the wait much more bearable.
#10 by rhymes with orange on September 29, 2009 - 10:45 am
It is definitely on THE LIST. Jaleo sets the bar pretty high for me, so it will be an interesting match up.
#11 by Donk on September 29, 2009 - 10:46 am
Ok, required orders:
Bacon-wrapped Dates
Carne Asada
Anyone else have suggestions?
#12 by Loki on September 29, 2009 - 10:55 am
They used to have these brussel sprouts… holy shit. I damn near cried when they took them off the menu.
The tuna steak is incredible as well, and I’m no aioli nerd but I think their aioli is tops.
#13 by Loki on September 29, 2009 - 10:56 am
The waitresses are also delicious.
#14 by rhymes with orange on September 29, 2009 - 11:03 am
What about the acorn-eating pigs? That was all the rage a few months ago.
#15 by Donk on September 29, 2009 - 11:18 am
Yeah. The Jamon Iberico was completely overrated. I reviewed it back on the old site and summed it up as the emperor’s new clothes. I don’t know if it’s still available, but I’d absolutely recommend against it if you want to get a half-decent bang for your buck.
#16 by rhymes with orange on September 29, 2009 - 11:48 am
That’s the one.
#17 by Floozy on September 29, 2009 - 6:37 pm
Scallops with some SCRUMMY sauce containing star anise. I’d rather guzzle that than give Pierce Brosnan a BJ….which is sayin’ somethin’ LMTY
#18 by Loki on September 30, 2009 - 10:17 am
That’s quite a recommendation coming from Floozy.
#19 by Space Buick on October 4, 2009 - 7:22 pm
There’s no way anyone tries to open that space with all that square footage again. If I’m wrong, I’ll put money on it closing another time.
It’s going to be divided into at least two units, and upstairs could be converted back into apartments.
#20 by Donk on October 5, 2009 - 10:12 am
You’re probably right, SB. I can’t imagine it working as a venue unless the space beneath is attached, but the restaurants in that space just haven’t had much luck staying afloat. Perhaps it’s time to look at it for different usage.
#21 by Space Buick on October 5, 2009 - 11:54 am
Personally I’m happy to trade IS for the Jefferson and the Southern. IS was way too big for Worn in Red for instance, and too small for, say, Spoon. I just hope the shows they get are good enough to keep both going.
#22 by Loki on October 5, 2009 - 1:50 pm
Here, here. I concur. I look forward to bragging to my out of town friends about who I just saw at the Jefferson 4 blocks from my house. I really hope that day comes soon.
#23 by Space Buick on October 5, 2009 - 10:13 pm
I definitely bragged about seeing the Pixies, Wilco, and James Brown two blocks from my house.