There Goes The Neighborhood: Hop Saint [restaurant review]
Hop Saint co-owners Christina Oliva, Steve Roberts and Brian Brewer Every once in awhile a business opens that shapes a neighborhood. It’s often a cultural institution, a theater or cabaret that creates a space for a previously invisible arts scene, but sometimes it’s a restaurant, bar, or coffeehouse. These have an impact not only because of the traffic they bring to neighboring businesses, but for the sense of vitality and creativity they bring to the area. In the best of circumstances, an area that was previously anonymous suddenly starts to feel like a neighborhood. Not all eateries are created equal when it comes to creating this sense of community. Consider the stretch of 190th Street where a downscale coffee shop called Billy’s Deli anchored the west end of a shopping mall. It had been there for decades, but if you mentioned the name to most South Bay residents they’d be hard pressed to say where it was. It was well back from the street, and the food was so dull, the environment so characterless, that it was easy to forget even if you had been there. The building is still right where it used to be, but everything else has changed when it became Hop Saint. Owner Steve…
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