The Market Tavern restaurant is located where Rosewood used to be, on the corner of School and Oak, according to a poster on the glass door. The menu features unique appetizers like roasted olives and furikake fries with “bulldog” sauce, signature soups and salads, sandwiches, and entrees like braised ribs and skirt steak. And of course there’s a full bar. They also offer wood-fired pizza and a kids’ menu. Market Tavern began as a collaboration between San Francisco chef Nicholas DiArenzo and restaurateur Phillip Wong. Together they opened a restaurant at Lincoln Center in Stockton, which enjoys great popularity. The space in Lodi used to be a men’s clothing store (The Toggery). It was later repurposed and opened as Hazel’s Restaurant in the mid-1990s upon completion of the downtown revitalization project. In 2002 it became Rosewood and was owned by the same people who own Wine and Roses. The property was purchased by Lincoln Properties LTD last year for $1,133,000.
DOUBLE: Starting this week, your humble correspondent will write two columns a week in the News-Sentinel—Tuesdays and Fridays. Both will feature the usual mix of fun facts and tantalizing tidbits. Fair warning to both of my readers.
UPDATE: There have been a couple of letters to the editor regarding the old Sunset Theater site on the corner of Lodi and Fairmont asking the Clark family who own the property to finish what they had started or to clean up. Terry Cark replies, “The Sunset and Alexander sites have been cleared of all hazardous materials, the Sunset building has been painted, the marquee has been upgraded, the new Sunset letters have been made for the sign and are in storage. Drain lines have been installed and the water lines are underground. Inside the theater, the walls and floors were removed. The construction site is a blank canvas that is ready. At this time, all building permits for the site have been completed and no further work will be undertaken.” Clark says he and his family are confident that finding a solution that will keep this historic building alive is their goal.
CLOSED: Woodbridge Pizza has changed hands and is temporarily closed for renovations. New owner Noah Almager says it will reopen as the Pi Bar. The restaurant will continue to serve pizza, with an emphasis on fresh, locally sourced ingredients, Almager says. He says there will be seasonal offerings, as well as snacks and free bread. Almager says they hope to reopen in late July or early August… Have you tried Sprouts deli sandwiches in Lodi? Maybe you should. They’re big, tasty, and only cost about $6. … The Lodi Certified Farmers Market starts this Thursday at 5pm in downtown Lodi and runs through August 31st.
UNDEFEATED: A few weeks ago we mentioned how well the Lodi High Boys tennis team has done this year under the management of Jacob Neal, his first year in office. The team went undefeated in the SJC Tri City Athletic League (TCAL); However, they lost in the first round of sections to Sacramento’s Inderkum High. It’s quite an achievement for a first-year coach to pull off a 10-0 record, especially since there was reportedly not much interest in the sport prior to Neal’s arrival. Incidentally, Jacob is the same guy who approached the city to build a local tennis center, an idea that didn’t go very far but some feel it should have worked.
STOPS AHEAD: A new four-way stop has sprung up at Pine and Crescent, Elm and California, and School at Locust. Traffic at Stockton and Poplar will continue to be monitored to determine if a quad track is required there as well. New traffic surveys were conducted in selected areas of the city, resulting in new traffic stops. A recent survey in Turner and California removed this crossbreed from their list of recommended signal lights, or at least put it at the bottom, they say. The news comes as a huge disappointment to many who live in the Willow Glen area. They’ve been demanding traffic signals at this intersection for decades. Since General Mills closed, traffic appears to have decreased, so fewer signals are needed, the city says.
REMINDER: We take note of the death of retired Lodi Police Chief Floyd Williams, who passed away this past weekend. He was boss from 1982 to 1993. During his tenure, the police initiated the gang squad and bicycle patrols. The Crime Stoppers program also began under his supervision. Williams was also a man of faith. After retiring from police work, Williams became the minister of First Baptist Church in Bandon, Oregon, a small church on the Oregon Coast just south of Coos Bay. Upon hearing the news, many of his friends and former colleagues posted comments on social media. Retired boss Larry Hansen wrote: “RIP Floyd you deserve it.” David Main, another retired LPD boss, wrote: “A good man. Did an excellent job as a boss, greatly improving technology, training and professionalism.” Retired Police Captain Ron Tobeck said, “Floyd was an excellent boss and a good and faithful servant of the Lord.”
REVIEW: Billy Dean Adcock was a man of regular habits. When he didn’t come home from his bartending job at the Spot Club on Cherokee Lane (where Aldee Market is now located) at 4am on October 18, 1962, his wife began to worry. The police have been notified. When officers and the bar’s owner, Larry Niland, arrived, they found the club’s doors locked. But Niland discovered $260 was missing from the register that was on the counter. As usual, Adcock’s car was parked just down the road. He was almost done cleaning up for the night. According to news reports, there was no sign of a struggle and the ground safe was untouched. About 10:30 a.m. later that morning, a body was found in a ditch north of Galt near Dillard Road. It was Adcock. He had been shot. Adcock was last seen alive outside the bar by a fellow truck driver who said he saw him in the company of a man and woman. Police detectives and the FBI have developed evidence leading them to suspect 34-year-old San Quentin parole officer Thomas Teale and his companion Ruth Chapman, 39. Witnesses said they saw the couple at the club just before closing time. About two weeks later, the FBI announced the arrest of Teale in New Orleans. Chapman had been arrested in Missouri a week earlier. The pair were subsequently convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Adcock.
LAST LAUGH: Here are more words to live by. Someone posted: “Laughing at your mistakes can lengthen your life. Laughing at your wife’s mistakes can shorten time.”
Steve is a former newspaper editor and lifelong Lodian whose column appears Tuesdays and Fridays in the News-Sentinel and on stevemann.substack.com. Write to Steve at aboutlodi@gmail.com.
