We wrote about half of a Looking Back at 2016 in Denton post and then deleted it. We can really only write about how much we like Boca 31 and Komodo Loco and dislike construction on University so much before we start to repeat ourselves. Instead, we decided to look forward into the future. What does the near future (nay present) have in store for Denton? We have a few things in mind. Some are a little more realistic than others, but anything can happen, right? Take a look through our predictions for 2017 in the post below and add your own predictions in the comments!
Following the recent trend of the restaurant bubble popping, one (more) of Denton's beloved downtown restaurants will close their doors.
Bucking the aforementioned trend in the above prediction, Denton will gain a new restaurant that specializes in fried chicken or French cuisine. Heck, why not both?
At least one non-food based business on the square will close down and will once again blame the multitude of bars.
There will be even more social media fighting this year around the time of the city council election.
Armadillo Ale Works will finally get their Denton location up and operational and started distributing their own brand of delicious brew from downtown Denton, TX.
Aside from Amadillo Ale Works, at least two new bars/breweries/beer gardens/whatever will open up. We know for a fact that The Denton Brewing Company will open on McKinney St. and Denton Beer Garden will open on S. Elm St., but we're hedging our bets that someone else will jump in on that action. 2017 may be the year we finally see just how many beer-related places that Denton can support.
Anyone who opposes the #dentoning hashtag will be torched as a heretic on a pyre of #dentoning dolls.
Banquet (AKA the Midlake supergroup featuring members of Grandaddy, Travis, Franz Ferdinand and Band of Horses) will release their album to critical acclaim.
A beloved Denton band from the 90's or 2000's will reunite and play a few shows and it won't be one of the ones that does that every year.
Spiral Diner will make many carnivorous Dentonites appreciate vegan faire.
People will realize that some of Denton's best pizza is being served at a food truck park.
Travelstead, the brewpub/market/venue, will not open, but be fairly close to opening by the end of the year.
HEB will drop some big news that will make a lot of Dentonites very happy sometime later in the year.
The 35 Express website says that construction will end "mid-2017." Is there a betting pool on the likelihood of that actually happening? If so, we want in on it.