WHAT WE DID: APRIL 7TH

Between storms and music festivals, spring in Denton is a busy time of the year. We didn't have any music festivals last week, but we had a storm big enough to cover for it. Y'all got hail damage? We sure do. Aside from that, the Community Market is back in swing and The DIME Store celebrated it's 1st birthday party. We're just trying to keep up. 

Thanks for documenting your weekend activities and tagging them with #WDDI. We'll see ya again next Monday with more of the same!

The DIME Store's 1st Birthday Party

The CVB has put up a giant chalk board on Industrial to encourage people while the E. Grand Hickory renovations are going on. They'll be asking a new question and they have chalk below for you to put up your answers. So far we're impressed to see how clean everyone has kept it. Impressively mature, Denton. Photo by @mbryceo. 

The DIME Store turned one over the weekend and we were there with a photobooth to take some photos of the attendees on their backyard bash. 

Photo by @mkernan.

The DIME Store had a Birthday Bash with some extra special vendors serving up all kinds of backyard fun! We're so happy they're here and a part of our community!! Photo by @wildflowerart. 

@savviedesign spent her Saturday at the Backyard Birthday Bash celebrating the one year birthday of the DIME Store! 

The Storm

Oh man. That storm, y'all. Hail, followed by more hail and a possible tornado, hail for a third time and then an ice cream truck showed up. That's how it went down on Austin St., at least. #TornadoSelfies didn't catch on, sadly. Here are a few photos of the storm, some of the destruction and the ironically beautiful sky that followed.  

Photo by Paige Gibson. 

Photo by Paige Gibson. 

Photo by Jillian Zamora

Photo by ashley cook

Photo by Hannah Kane

Photo by Cali

Photo by Kim McClellan

Photo by Taylor Bunch. 

Photo by Zach Ashcraft. 

Photo by Rachel Nichelson. 

Photo by bsbassist. 

The crawfish were right on at the Mudbug Boil at @dansilverleaf this weekend! 

Kiddos were arting it up at the opening of the Denton Community Market on Saturday morning! Photo by @mkernan.

@shainasheaffphoto and friends raised a glass this weekend at Oak Street Drafthouse. 

@lcd7383 enjoyed mimosas and board games on that rainy Sunday. 

New signage uncovered on the square. Photo by Denton Camera Exchange. 

This was the special at Paschall's last week. Photo by one of our favorite bartenders, @Alph0nso. 

@veeveemarie had an impressive looking lunch at Weinberger's. 

@paperlocket shared their love for this town through a square filled photo. 

@serynsounds played a fancy house show with @panhandlehouse - and @jadewintersee made sure to gram it! 

QUICK DENTON BIZ UPDATE

Tomorrow will be the last day you’ll have to dine at Sweetwater in it’s current state. It’s undergoing a change in ownership and a renovation and will be back open in a little over two months. We’re not sure what all will happen during said renovation but we’re sure we need one more hamburger and sweet potato fries before the sweet prince closes its doors.

In other business news, the Denton Record Chronicle recently broke the news that a Cinemark will be joining Dilliard’s as another anchor of the forthcoming Rayzor Ranch Town Center. Both will begin construction this summer and hope to open in 2015. While we already have a Cinemark location a few miles down 35 from Rayzor Ranch, this Cinemark will be slightly different. This is Cinemark Bistro, meaning they’ll be pushing the whole “chow down on some mediocre food while you watch a movie” concept. They’ll also offer all stadium seating and the ability to reserve certain seats in advance. If they're listening, we'd also like our first legit Imax screen in town, too. Pretty please, Cinemark corporate people?

On the other side of town, Corner Bakery Cafe, the sandwich and salad chain, and Pollo Tropical, a Caribbean-inspired chain out of Miami, will be opening locations by the Golden Triangle Mall. There’s also going to be Zumiez or something inside the mall, but you don’t ever really go inside there, so who cares?

In other, longstanding news, Cafe Herrera should open within the next two weeks. We’ll check it out ASAP and let y’all know what we find out.

MR FARRIS GOES TO CITY HALL: JUNE

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Glen Farris inspects the custom made industrial smokers inside of the forthcoming Goldmine BBQ. 

211 E. Hickory has been on the hazardous building list for the last little while. It's that little older building right in-between Storried Productions and Travelstead by Mellow Mushroom. A long time ago, they roof damage due to an AC unit falling through. Oops. Now, the owners of the place are attempting to get it back up to code in the hopes that they can turn it into retail space. Here's to hoping its not more auto parts and lawn mowers.  

Love themed restaurants? Sure hope so, because we're about to have an influx of them. Gold Mine BBQ opens in early July. This place comes complete with a newly renovated space made to look like an old mine shaft, some very well trained BBQ-ers, a hidden patio and a very lively looking canary in a cage. We're pretty excited to try it out - mostly because their giant industrial smokers stocked with pecan wood seem pretty promising. Don't worry. We'll get back to you with an official opinion after they open in a few weeks. 

A peek inside the forthcoming Goldmine BBQ in the old Vigne space on Hickory St. 

Speaking of themed restaurants, word on the street is that there is a themed pizza place about to happen, too. After Bosses opened last month, you know we're at least interested to see what kind of tantalizing treat "olde English style" pizza will be. Last Drop Tavern will be Denton's own English style eatery and wood-fired pizza haven opening on Elm Street just off the square, and coming soon. 

More on restaurant news, Rusty Taco Denton had the highest grossing opening week of any Rusty taco. Whoa guys - we knew you liked tacos and all, but geez. We're not ashamed. We were caught there are few times ourselves in the first week. Maybe they're onto something with those cheap margaritas.

Signs on the square have been called into scrutiny recently. The Subway sign is being replaced with something that will blend in a little more with the current signage on the square, and now Lone Star Attitude (the burger place in the old Denton County spot we talked about two months ago) is having trouble getting their sign approved. We're not sure why. Maybe it sticks out too far, is too bright, or has just rubbed someone the wrong way, but we're pretty pumped to see what they end up replacing the current 'Denton County Hamburger' signage with - so that the new restaurant feels a little more real. Also, did y'all get a chance to see that paint job on Mad World and Beth Marie's? Not sure who thought that would be a good idea. 

Hope you installed a smart thermostat to get you through summer this year. Apparently utility prices will be going up pretty soon. You might be needing all the extra help you can get. Electric is going up 2.5% due to a rise in the wholesale price of energy, water and wastewater are rising a little due to much needed improvements on our infrastructure and solid waste and recycling will be taking a small hit for increased costs and cart replacements. And you thought your bill was high already... According to Kevin Roden, city councilman of District 1, it unfortunately takes our poop overflowing for us to concern ourselves with all those pipes underground. It is never easy for us to take on increases in cost, but we're at the point where major replacements, upgrades and expansions are necessary. Some have already been done. Luckily, we live in a city whose rates are pretty low compared to the rest of the metroplex, so we were knocking on wood last summer as we bragged to our friends in Lewisville, Flower Mound and Plano how much lower our utility bills were compared to theirs. This year we may be keeping a closer watch on our AC consumption in the dog days of summer.

If you're a friend to the furry (no, not those people - just cats and dogs) you'll be happy to know that the Denton Animal Shelter Foundation will be getting a new building that is costing a little over four million dollars. It'll live way up north on 77 by UNT's Research Park. Hopefully, this means that all of those sweet strays will have a nice place to lay their little heads when they're between homes.