Northgate celebrates grand 'reopening' Thursday

They liked the loft-like, industrial look with its steel beams, exposed duct work and neutral earth tones.

[rajr]

Did someone forget Panera Bread?

[FatFreddysCat]

Clearly this money couldn't have been spent on projects more beneficial to Marin.
===
>$75 million transformation of Northgate mall.

[Off With Their Heads]

A hit and miss remake, in my opinion. I do remember this shopping center before it became an enclosed Mall - which brought to into the 1980's. It had grown dated - and was struggling - and so the remake is welcome. I do like the glass ceiling (how many times can they mention "clerestory windows"?) and many of the details, like the lights, against the rather austere industrial look. However - and this is a Big However - the Fake second story balcony in front of the Fake, white plastic, backlit windows looks ridiculous! It is totally incongrueous with the gritty reality of the exposed girder, ventilation ducts, concrete etc. look. Also, the western side that has the Chipolte Grill, wireless stores etc.- has the afternoon sun beating directly on their windows - making it difficult to even see through them. I hope they have a UV coating and insulation, otherwise the sun damage to the interior will be substantial. Also, there are no awnings, let alone a covered sidewalk - and so they will get no walk byes in rainy weather. Again, I thought that there would be at least a covered walkway between the main Mall and Kohls - but in rainy weather (like Christmas shopping season)-you'll just have to bundle up! I hope it works out for them! There are some nice new shopping and dining options there.

[Michelle in Novato]

I agree with the feeling of it being cold. I hope they warm it up with plants or something. And the fake windows are weird. What was the point of that I wonder?

[MarinCitizen]

FatFreddysCat wrote:

Clearly this money couldn't have been spent on projects more beneficial to Marin.

Wait a minute. This is private money, yes? You know, like people and companies investing in Marin? Sure retail is not a sexy thing to talk about, but it brings in tax revenue to the city and county - and this is funded by private investment.

[BJs Restaurant]

Anyone eat here? BJ's Restaurant.

Wow, check out the salt, fat, and carbs section of the menu. By law they have to show it. And they do.

The food there is SO BAD for you. I ate there even though I saw the nutritional facts. The food is SO SALTY. They make it salty to make you pay for expensive drinks. If you go out for dinner and have 1-2 drinks, you WILL have 3-4 drinks because every item on their menu is salty as hell.

Even the salads have 1000 milligrams of salt and higher. What, a salad has that much salt? How????

Their chicago style pizza which they claim is what made the company is the worst pizza you will ever have. It is like a bread thing that is beyond salty. It is the worst pizza I have ever had by far. It wasn't greasy it was just salty as hell. It is not even pizza and it is definitely not a chicago pan pizza.

It is too bad that a real restaurant didn't go in. Only uneducated people will eat there because intelligent people will see how bad this food is for you. When you are there you will see that the people that go to this place are those that appear not to have been educated. It is a strange customer they attract. Also, everyone know how bad the cheese cake factory is, this place is EXACTLY the same as the cheese cake factory. They do the same tricks to make you think you are getting value but you don't.

A small pizza - 4 slices for example has something like (and don't qoute me) 5000 miligrams of salt, a ton of fat, and ton of carbs. I believe that is worse than a big mac by far. Your heart will feel the stress of eating something like that. Your body will go into shock. I experieced a massive muscle cramp in my leg after about 30 minutes of eating the pizza. Not sure if it is related but I have to believe it was. I am mostly a healthy person and never experienced this before. I did talk to a doctor and he said salt is suppose to help a muscle cramp if my potassium is low, but he contended that I may have just tipped the scale so far the other way that anything was possible. I only had two pieces. My fault, shame on me. I looked at the pile of you know what, then I proceeded to step in it. But now I know to stay out of there.

You will go into shock when you look at the nutritional pages.

The place is good for a drink but think twice about the food. Drinks are over priced though.

This is all my opinion. Go there an try it out, be sure to look at the nutritional part of the menu, and you will surely agree that I am spot on about this place of salt.

[Commander Bunny]

BJs Restaurant wrote:

Anyone eat here? BJ's Restaurant.
Wow, check out the salt, fat, and carbs section of the menu. By law they have to show it. And they do.
The food there is SO BAD for you. I ate there even though I saw the nutritional facts. The food is SO SALTY. They make it salty to make you pay for expensive drinks. If you go out for dinner and have 1-2 drinks, you WILL have 3-4 drinks because every item on their menu is salty as hell.
Even the salads have 1000 milligrams of salt and higher. What, a salad has that much salt? How????
Their chicago style pizza which they claim is what made the company is the worst pizza you will ever have. It is like a bread thing that is beyond salty. It is the worst pizza I have ever had by far. It wasn't greasy it was just salty as hell. It is not even pizza and it is definitely not a chicago pan pizza.
It is too bad that a real restaurant didn't go in. Only uneducated people will eat there because intelligent people will see how bad this food is for you. When you are there you will see that the people that go to this place are those that appear not to have been educated. It is a strange customer they attract. Also, everyone know how bad the cheese cake factory is, this place is EXACTLY the same as the cheese cake factory. They do the same tricks to make you think you are getting value but you don't.
A small pizza - 4 slices for example has something like (and don't qoute me) 5000 miligrams of salt, a ton of fat, and ton of carbs. I believe that is worse than a big mac by far. Your heart will feel the stress of eating something like that. Your body will go into shock. I experieced a massive muscle cramp in my leg after about 30 minutes of eating the pizza. Not sure if it is related but I have to believe it was. I am mostly a healthy person and never experienced this before. I did talk to a doctor and he said salt is suppose to help a muscle cramp if my potassium is low, but he contended that I may have just tipped the scale so far the other way that anything was possible. I only had two pieces. My fault, shame on me. I looked at the pile of you know what, then I proceeded to step in it. But now I know to stay out of there.
You will go into shock when you look at the nutritional pages.
The place is good for a drink but think twice about the food. Drinks are over priced though.
This is all my opinion. Go there an try it out, be sure to look at the nutritional part of the menu, and you will surely agree that I am spot on about this place of salt.

Psssst...bring in a nice long hair, and have Them comp the meal, or threaten to report Them to the Health Dept.( if it is that dreadfull, of course)
Folks used to do that to Me, so I started shaving My head.

[BGHOZ]

Off With Their Heads wrote:

A hit and miss remake, in my opinion. I do remember this shopping center before it became an enclosed Mall - which brought to into the 1980's. It had grown dated - and was struggling - and so the remake is welcome. I do like the glass ceiling (how many times can they mention "clerestory windows"?) and many of the details, like the lights, against the rather austere industrial look. However - and this is a Big However - the Fake second story balcony in front of the Fake, white plastic, backlit windows looks ridiculous! It is totally incongrueous with the gritty reality of the exposed girder, ventilation ducts, concrete etc. look. Also, the western side that has the Chipolte Grill, wireless stores etc.- has the afternoon sun beating directly on their windows - making it difficult to even see through them. I hope they have a UV coating and insulation, otherwise the sun damage to the interior will be substantial. Also, there are no awnings, let alone a covered sidewalk - and so they will get no walk byes in rainy weather. Again, I thought that there would be at least a covered walkway between the main Mall and Kohls - but in rainy weather (like Christmas shopping season)-you'll just have to bundle up! I hope it works out for them! There are some nice new shopping and dining options there.

Snick...heh,heh,heh...

[Shocked in Terra Linda]

It's just more penitentiary architecture, which will quickly date the center as architectural trends are moving away from this grim and gritty trend of the past ten years.

Why couldn't they have remodeled the center in a way that reflects Marin's natural beauty?

[Hal]

"We're definitely excited," spokesman Ryan Williams said. "It's been 18 months in the making and we're just excited that the day is here."
This guy sure is excitable.
Is he a psychotic?
Does everything "excite" him?
Or, is he just some undereducated corporate flunky using the latest newspeak out of the PR handbook?

Our family will not go there if it's a hangout for anhchor baby gang wanna be's.
Get excited about that and hire some security to flush them out of there.

[Red Diaper]

I thought the roof was coming off .Looks inclosed to me.

[Snark Attack]

BJs Restaurant wrote:

Anyone eat here? BJ's Restaurant... Only uneducated people will eat there because intelligent people will see how bad this food is for you. When you are there you will see that the people that go to this place are those that appear not to have been educated.

I agree that the food had a heat and serve quality about it. I assume that they inflate the sodium amounts somewhat on the nutritional information to error on the side of caution. But did you really expect more from a chain restraunt? Maybe you are not as smart as you think you are. If you are so obsessed with the quality of your food you probably should not eat out at all.

When we ate there it looked like a typical cross section of Marin residents. You come off as one of those elitist liberals. Didn't Bill Clinton have a weakness for McDonalds? Even if you don't like him you cannot argue that he is not highly educated. I fail to see what eating habbits have to do with intelligence. Some very smart people eat food that is not considered healthy.

BTW - the Fizookie desert or whatever they call it was really good.

[Pedestrian]

Hal wrote:

"Our family will not go there if it's a hangout for anhchor baby gang wanna be's. Get excited about that and hire some security to flush them out of there".

I concur. Hal hit the nail on the head.

[Happy Al]

I'll bet Boro is excited about the extra tax revenue. He can use it to keep the illegals happy and do more for them.

[Snark Attack]

Hal wrote:

Our family will not go there if it's a hangout for anhchor baby gang wanna be's.
Get excited about that and hire some security to flush them out of there.

I am not sure how you can tell that they are "anchor babies". Maybe you really meant to say hispanics and thought that saying anchor babies would be less offensive.

[couplewords]

I'm so thrilled that some of the nay-sayers here won't be at the Mall. Nothing like crummy people making your day miserable when it didn't have to be! My uncle was like that -- he's probably complaining about the heat in hell.

[San Rafael Resident]

FatFreddysCat wrote:

Clearly this money couldn't have been spent on projects more beneficial to Marin.
===
>$75 million transformation of Northgate mall.

You do understand that $75M is private money spent by the owners of the mall? The mall renovations were not paid for with public funds... the mall owner is free to spend their money on fixing up their mall.

[TL resident]

I checked out the new "mall". Between Sears and Macy there is not one store for people over 35. It's all small kids, teenagers, or customers between 20-30 (maybe). The so-called restaurants are nothing that health conscious people would want to eat at. I'm sure Al Boro is not going to shop/eat there. Who makes decisions what stores and restaurants occupy a shopping mall??? Unfortunately this mall is getting worse each time they "remodel". And no rain/sun cover between Kohl's and the rest of the mall - I could go on. Too bad!

[T Durden]

I'm thrilled with the new mall. Chipotle and BJ's are exactly what it needed. They aren't health food by any means, but great for the occasional night out... BJ's more than fills the niche left by Chili's.

It's interesting that Day Hiker's post seems to have been removed, which means they ARE moderating these boards a bit (unless someone "reported abuse"? Who knows).

Either way, I echo the concerns about the gangbanger mall rats: that will quell any excitement and enthusiasm for the new mall right away, and we'll be right back to square one. Hopefully they're on top of that.

[T Durden]

TL resident wrote:

Between Sears and Macy there is not one store for people over 35.

...because you have any of the Marin downtown stores (Novato, San Rafael, Mill Valley, Tiburon, take your pick) and the two Corte Madera malls that focus on your demographic. Why should Northgate have been the same?