Belmont says adios to Hola!: Carlmont Shopping Center gets new tenants as restaurant, nursery leave

Hola! General Manager Vanessa Beale, whose parents Richard and Denise Beale owned the restaurant, said the family opened their doors Oct. 2, 2000, the exact day they’ll be closing after they opted not to continue when faced with a large rent increase.

“We’ve put a lot of our heart and soul into this business and we tried really hard. We had a really good time, we were successful, even through the hardest of times when the economy was down. We all pulled together as a family and we pushed through and came out. So I feel very successful that we’re leaving with success and not failure,” Beale said.

Carlmont Village Operations Manager Mike Picone said while it’s sad to see established tenants go and the Beales will be missed, new opportunities are afoot.

“It’s good stuff. It’s exciting for us, the city of Belmont and the community. It’s time for change and we’re happy,” Picone said, adding they’re striving to preserve the character of the site off Ralston Avenue. “Carlmont Village is all about keeping the flavor and the ambiance of a neighborhood shopping center.”

Those previously served by the Tyler-family run Carlmont Nursery, which operated a lush corner of the shopping center marked by a small river for nearly 50 years before the owners opted to retire, won’t have to look much further.

The site will soon be updated and taken over by the Navarros, a family with 35 years of experience seeking to open a second nursery similar to their Portola Valley-based Ladera Garden and Gifts.

“It’s a new challenge for us and also exciting because we have a couple of kids that want to get more involved in the business,” said co-owner Juan Navarro. “We really want to bring a whole bunch of fresh new ideas [to Carlmont], so I think it’s going to be exciting.”

Picone said the challenging goal was to find another nursery that could continue the long-standing service at Carlmont. Ladera, a more diverse establishment that also sells unique gifts and outdoor art along with its nursery business, is an ideal tenant to take over, Picone said.

“Our feeling was we really had to find a nursery that was a good fit. … We were looking for the mom-and-pop that was going to be on-site management and run a strong business. And that’s what we found in Ladera,” Picone said, noting they opted not to go with larger chain stores. “We had a really tough time with the nursery because I think, frankly in my professional opinion, small family-owned nurseries, they’re kind of a dying breed. And it’s because there’s so much competition. The Tylers really did a fantastic job.”

While finding a specialty tenant like Ladera may have had its challenges, Picone noted they’re closing in on a new tenant for the neighboring Hola! locale as well.

While not at liberty to disclose who’s at the top of the list, Picone noted there were several others also considering the site that will likely remain a restaurant.

Hola! customer Laura Atherton, who lives nearby and whose grandmother even frequented the site’s former occupant the Pine Brook Restaurant, said she was disheartened to hear the long-standing Mexican restaurant was leaving.

“I’ll miss it desperately,” Atherton said Friday afternoon. “There’s so many wonderful people that have worked here.”

Reservations were completely booked for their final days and customers ordered to-go meals they planned to freeze, Beale said. Having spent much of her life working at the family business, it’s a bittersweet ending.

“It’s been great, it’s been a big part of my life,” Beale said. “It’s really sad for all of us here because we’re all like a family.”

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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