Prickly Pear Grill & Cantina Moves Closer to Fruition

A new restaurant is slated to open in the Downtown arena in early 2022.

Prickly Pear Grill & Cantina will be a unique building, one that Salina has not seen the likes of in decades, a two-story restaurant.

The restaurant is set to be located at 123 S Santa Fe and will have a dine-in atmosphere, as well as a public outdoor space with recreation and stage entertainment.

Prior to opening, the outdoor blue prints need to be okayed by the City Commission.

According to Dean Andrew, Zoning Administrator, the current sidewalk dining regulations in the Downtown District date back to 2014. "It wasn't until work began on the Streetscape Project that Downtown businesses felt comfortable in trying to make improvements on the sidewalks." Since then, we have seen restaurants such as Blue Skye Brewery & Eats, Paramount Bar, Barolo Grille, Old Chicago, Martinelli's, and Yaya's Euro Bistro add outdoor dining space to their list of amenities.

Before the commission at this week's meeting was a proposal for a 42ft x 117ft outdoor dining space and sidewalk, adjacent to the south façade of the future Prickly Pear Grill & Cantina.

Andrew stated that the dining area would be separate from the public walkway by a 3ft tall metal fence, with the dining area containing tables, chairs, and a recreation area.

Andrew went on to summarize that the Prickly Pear stands to be a 2-story restaurant, with the first floor containing 1,046 sq. ft. of dining area with 61 seats. The second story will have 1,400 sq. ft. of dining experience with 82 seats.

The plan is to also create a fenced in dining area to house a dining and recreation space. An artificial turf area, along with a new stage on the east end of the Plaza, will be within these outdoor walls.

When it came time for questions, Commissioner Davis asked about music playing into the evening and night. Andrew stated that because the area would still be considered public property per the agreement with the owner, the governance would fall under the "Disturbing of Peace" public ordinance, which simply states that it would be governed in a similar manner to Oakdale park.

Commissioner Hoppock requested information pertaining to the recreational area within the fenced in dining space.

Mr Blake, representative for the project, said "We've modeled this after several sites that we've visited. Simple yard games, just an area to gather. Something nice for Downtown."

As far as the timeline, "We're going as fast as we can," Mr Blake began. "The building permit is done. They're ahead of schedule on finishing the Plaza. The walkway has already been temporarily fenced in. Brick is going up on the façade. We're ahead of the weather. If you asked me today we're looking at March 1 for an opening date."

Bill Longbine, who has recently been voted into the City Commission in the recent public election, voice a concern at the meeting. "It appears this property is being donated to the developer in return for them developing. How does that make it fair to another restaurant down the street?"

City Manager Michael Schrage replied, "The way this is set up is a license agreement, meaning we've agreed upon terms in which they can use the space. Ownership doesn't transfer, it is retained by the City, and as long as they (the restaurant owners) use it in the agreed upon manor, they have access to it. In the event that they don't, or we determine that there is a better public use for the property, we can terminate that agreement. This particular area is not limited to private use. Part of our agreement is that this area has to be accessible for public use. More often than not, people are going to be customers of the restaurant, but the hypothetical that we included in the conversation, is that anyone can enter the space from the sidewalk and use that space. The initial request was that the space be donated, but there was a lot of deliberation about that. It was a very clear response from the governing body, because of the concerns you raised, there wasn't a level of comfort to do that. So this is the alternative approach that got worked out and approved." Longbine asked, "So, this will still be considered a public space?"

"It will stay under city ownership," Schrage answered. "It will not be exclusively limited to customers of the restaurant. It will also be open to members of the public. There were conversations about programming of the stage. While the Prickly Pear will try to program activities on the stage, there will be a coordinating effort with Salina downtown, Inc. to schedule it for public use."

The agreement was passed 4-0. Commissioner Ryan was not present.