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It’s tiny (three short aisles), carries only good stuff (there’s not a Slim Jim in sight), and has yet to get its beer and wine license (coming real soon). There’s even a dj turntable kit at the entrance — which is normally a signal to ELV to make a quick exit. But once you take a minute and stroll through, look at the produce, and notice this is the only retail outlet in town for Bon Breads fabulouso stuff…you realize itty bitty Resnicks is doing what no business in downtown has done in like…forever: bring good groceries to people living there.
Mike Goldstein and his partners are the impresarios behind Resnicks (named, we assume, after the Vegas community leader/ walking target of the same name), and they have big plans to turn the ground floor of Soho Lofts to not only a place where healthy food can be gotten, but also an English-style pub and a nightclub.
Too ambitious? Perhaps, especially for an area that has a hard time keeping three Mexican restaurants and two sandwich shops afloat. But with great risk comes great reward, and having a real grocery store downtown, even a minuscule one, is a start to turning the area into something other than a place for the slack-jawed hordes to kill time over 50 cent beers.
And maybe, like its namesake, it will start something big. In Irving’s time, it was originating junkets for high rollers to Vegas. In Resnicks (circa 2011) case, maybe giving people a reason to actually live in its neighborhood will be enough.
RESNICKS GROCERY
In the Soho Lofts
900 Las Vegas Blvd. South Suite 120
Las Vegas, NV 89101
702.982.2999
nice optimism ELV
I hope they are well armed and well insured.
Dave – Units at Soho Lofts were once selling for multiple millions before the crash, its the most financially stable high rise in Las Vegas in what might be the most secure neighborhood downtown with 24 hour doorman for an extra layer of protection. All of the adjacent offices are law firms, yes its surrounded by crap but the area itself is fantastic. You might feel safe and secure in your little patch of suburbia but chances are there is more crime per capita on your block than there is on the block where Soho Lofts and Resniks is located. Time to wake up, the only way Downtown will be rejuvenated is if the old stereotypes are abandoned and the area is looked upon with fresh eyes. This is the region where young innovative businesses are attempting the launch, you will never see that in Green Valley, it takes a city.
John – I head that the name Resnik’s came from the founder Sam Cherry’s uncle, he owned a Grocery/Bodega with the same name. Sam is also the developer of Soho Lofts, a downtown visionary who might be ahead of his time due to the crash, but there is no doubt that the area between Charleston and Freemont is undergoing a radical change even in this depressed economy.
Steve
I wish you and any other businessman who takes the big risk of opening a business downtown good luck. But having an AK47 or Saiga 12 gauge on hand, as well as a comprehensive insurance policy probably wouldnt hurt either. A sincere good luck to you.
Dave – I have nothing to do with Resniks, I am not an investor nor do I own or invest in a business downtown. But I am wise enough to know that the future of Las Vegas (outside of the strip of course) is in the renovation of the downtown area. Mind you I am not talking about Naked City/Art district… thats still a mess, I am only talking about north of Charleston and South of Freemont. The crime is leaving this area and moving into the ‘berbs because of the depressed home values, people who used to live in $100/week hotels can now afford a home in Henderson. Ironic, isn’t it? I was born and raised in NYC, I have no fear walking down the street downtown with a few thousand in my front pocket where as I would have fear doing that in parts of the Bronx.
PS: I just discovered that Resniks is selling non homogenized whole milk in glass bottles, to my knowledge thats the only place in Vegas where you can get real milk at retail. For that reason alone foodies should check this place out.
Vegasdave is an idiot.
Ever been to the Downtown Cocktail Room or The Griffin or The Vanguard Lounge or Henri and Odette or Firefly at the Plaza or First Friday or the Beat or The Beauty Bar or the Emergency Arts Center?
Ever lived in a real city where neighborhoods are integrated and upper-middle class white people don’t sequester themselves in gated communities and strut around in sweat pants at Whole Foods and think of themselves as “foodies” because they can afford to eat at Guy Savoy and know dipship John Curtass personally or frequent his goofy blog and occasionally even chime in with some repugnant comment or opinion about something you know nothing about?
Ever heard of the World Market Center, The New City Hall, the fact that Zappo’s is moving into the old city hall and is staffed with 1000 mostly young and hip and educated and pierced and tatted employees?
Didn’t think so.
In New York and Chicago and San Francisco, downtown means all kinds of people and businesses coexisting and evolving. Our downtown just happens to be going through a bit of a renaissance. Great bars and galleries and coffeshops and restaurants, housing, boutique groceries, easy access to public transportation are popping up all over.
You’re obviously a real urbane and open-minded, hip guy. You’ve really got your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in our community. Downtown is pretty fn cool and getting cooler and you’re not and I’d bet you never have been.
So go listen to NPR and buy some Parmesan cheese at Whole Foods so you can spout off to everyone at dinner about how there’s “nothing like REAL Parmesan cheese” and how “FANTASTIC” roku is or some other great opinion you stole from someone else and please don’t insult those of us who live and work and love appreciate our burgeoning downtown.
Remember to keep your windows up and your doors locked and your butt cheeks clenched next time you’re forced to pay a ticket or hit City Hall, jackass!
The poor people might attack you!
For what it is worth, we love having Resnicks two doors down from our business.
Having lived in both Summerlin and Downtown, and having worked downtown for 1/3 of my life, I can say that each has its relative benefits and negatives. But anyone who still thinks downtown = unsafe is perpetuating a stereotype that is 10 years old. A simple stop into the businesses that operate at Soho, or driving by the building to see the cars parked out front will change that perception.
Urban living is all about mixed use and mixed income levels and mixing it up culturally and in general. Soho Lofts is doing just that.
Downtown 3.0 is well underway, and everyone is welcome here.
John hit it on all points, Vegas Dave should man up and apoligize to Downtown. Fucking loser. Like theres so many killings Downtown.
VegasDave is a dickwad that probably bitches about people riding bikes. Probably the same asshole that hit and ran someone at a crosswalk. That happens way more often by fear minded fuck faces such as yourself in the Las Vegas streets than killings downtown. WAKE UP
I feel MUCH SAFER walking the streets of downtown Las Vegas at night than the creepy, abandoned neighborhoods in the ‘burbs. I’ve lived in every part of this valley (including Boulder City), and have seen/experienced much more crime in the supposed “nice” areas than ever in the city core.
VIVA HATE!!!!!
You are a f’cking SAP if you think downtown Vegas will ever be anything more than a half ass block and a half. In case you missed it, the 2002-2006 boom missed that part of town. Feel free to take a walk there after dark, you dumb asswipes!
laughing my f”cking ass off at you!!!
I will have to agree with Vegas hot and fired up Dave on this one. Who wants to be apart of a Downtown filled with pawn shops, cheap hotels, trashy people, bad food, loud music, bad street performers, drunks, homeless, bail bond shops, a county prison and newly realeased minority inmates.
You all can make harrassment at us living in gated homes, but I can say the view of downtown looks great from here, than down in that horrid mess.
hey, “Vegasdave,” if you stand by your comments, why hide behind anonymity?
Here’s what I don’t get: Why such a hate on for “downtown?” I can see if you don’t like this review or the business or it’s not your cup of tea, but why spew such over-the-top nonsense? Why not “Hey, I tried going to that place, but someone tried selling me crack while they held me at knifepoint, so I couldn’t get in, it sucked.”?
There are parts of Vegas I don’t like either. But I just ignore/avoid them. Not go rant on blogs about how scary they are. Or tell an entire community of people they’re “dumbasses” for trying to make something better of where they work/live/play.
Now, if you’d like to share some personal experiences of how you’ve been scared by downtown to the point you think one needs to be “well armed and well insured,” I’d love to hear these specific stories.
Dr. Russell – Again, no one is bashing suburban living. Just don’t understand why one has to be chosen over the other. James Reza said it best above, and remember, this review is about ONE BUSINESS in a building that houses an award-winning salon and beautiful, high-end lofts, not about the state of downtown Vegas in general:
“Having lived in both Summerlin and Downtown, and having worked downtown for 1/3 of my life, I can say that each has its relative benefits and negatives. But anyone who still thinks downtown = unsafe is perpetuating a stereotype that is 10 years old. A simple stop into the businesses that operate at Soho, or driving by the building to see the cars parked out front will change that perception.
Urban living is all about mixed use and mixed income levels and mixing it up culturally and in general. Soho Lofts is doing just that.”
When you feed the trolls, they bite. And that’s what this amounts to; these folks either have never been downtown or not in the past in 10 years. I could make a list of what is happening downtown, but what would be the point? It’s not worth addressing them any further.
I forgot to mention Globe Salon. Sorry James and Stacy. I actually am due for a haircut. See you guys soon.
I also forgot to mention the Smith Center for Performing Arts and the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute and the Plaza renovation and the new tower at the Golden Nugget. Downtown is happening, Dr. Russell and VegasDave. Y’all can hide behind your gates in your masterplanned communities with your guns and snobby attitudes and fear and loathing…
Check this out while you’re at it…
Wife and I (and yes, our kids) just moved downtown in December after 3+ years in the burbs, and we could not be happier. We’ve had friendlier neighbors and more sociable strangers than any other part of town we’ve lived in. Gritty in spots? Yes, I will be the first to say it. But the horror stories people like to tell about downtown” Pure, unadulterated crap.
This has been quite entertaining. It is pretty amazing how individuals go after downtown with such fervor…agenda perhaps?? Great comments PJ, James, and especially John! I love the link as well!
Downtown is happening, but denial is built into the “pro-strip, pro-burb” culture here. Like I always say, just go and check it out. Draw your own conclusions.
OVERPRISED AZZ FOOD. BOUGHT A TURKEY SANDWICH THERE, $6.25 AND IT WAS RANK, RETURNED TO LOCATION NEXT AFTERNOON FOR REFUND AND WAS TOLD “NO REFUND”, AND WAS NOT OFFERED A STORE CREDIT….
THEY SUCK ON CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEIR FOOD IS WAY OVERPRICED… WILL TELL ALL MY FRIENDS ABOUT THE F UP SERVICE RECEIVED AT THIS LOCATION!!
THIS PLACE WILL NEVER MAKE IT, AND I SUSPECT THEY OPENED IT TO RINSE THEIR DIRTY LAUNDRY CAUSE THEY AINT MAKING NO MONEY…
You clearly have an agenda. Downtown is a beautiful place.
The only thing holding back downtown development, other than racism, is that Clark County hasnt poured enough money into it. The county commisioners and the Culinary union should require development by MGM and the other large casinos, or let them know they will face higher taxes and labor strife.
Who is John Galt?
Actually vegdave, downtown is the the City of Las Vegas. That means the Clark County Commission has nothing to do with the area. Nice try.