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The other day, a friend and I stopped by the new La Casita Ice Cream & Deli on 16th Street, and recognized a familiar face. The girl behind the counter was a longtime employee at Calabria Italian Grocer & Deli, so we were surprised to see her out of context.
Sure enough, Calabria closed last Friday, she told us.
It’s too bad the place couldn’t survive — not only because downtown doesn’t exactly have a surplus of these kinds of little businesses (Italian delis in particular), but also because it’s a reminder of how the Gold Spot building at 3rd Avenue and Roosevelt never really took off. When the circa 1925 building was being renovated several years ago, it generated a lot of excitement, and locals hoped it would revitalize the neighborhood.
We’re still holding out hope.
