Building Remodels: Torchy’s Tacos Falls Short While Belmar Groves Looks Successful

While one of my favorite things to post about on this blog is new construction, the reuse of existing buildings can also be exciting. It’s rare, however, to see it done right. 

Part of the problem is that so much of Lakewood’s existing infrastructure is low-density and car-based. Think one story buildings surrounded by a sea of empty and unused asphalt. Reusing these buildings, while cheap, doesn’t do anything to build a vibrant and walkable downtown. The Belmar shopping district is a perfect example of this. The old Villa Italia mall was surrounded by acres of unnecessary parking. Tearing the entire thing down paved the way for the Belmar to rise as a walkable downtown. 

With that in mind, let’s focus on two building remodels currently underway in downtown Lakewood—one of which appears successful from a design standpoint, and the other not so much.

The first remodel is of the Belmar Groves Apartments on the north side of Alameda and Wadsworth. Metro West Housing Solutions is the developer, and like everything they do, the Belmar Groves remodel appears to be a quality project. Starting with 118 apartments of undistinguished 1970’s design, Metro West is removing the bland outer facade and replacing it with a modern facade featuring a number of different textures and feels. The apartments will receive new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, HVAC systems—the whole shebang.

What’s really exciting, however, is Metro West’s emphasis on connecting residents to the spaces outside their units. Apartments are getting balconies and doors that open onto the complex’s updated landscaping. There will be gardens, BBQ areas and a playground. 

It’s an impressive design of the kind we’ve come to expect from Metro West Housing Solutions. There work to bring affordable housing to Lakewood has been continually impressive.

The second remodel is being done by Torchy’s Tacos, which is taking over the defunct Village Inn location at 7381 W. Alameda, across from Belmar and along the beautifully renovated Alameda Parkway Business Improvement District. Although the interior of the old Village Inn building is being renovated, the outside footprint has been left unchanged. That’s my problem with it.

The Village Inn was a car-centric building that did nothing to interact with the surrounding space. It remains that way, despite its transition into a taco joint. Literally the only exterior change appears to be the replacement of the words “Village Inn” with “Torchy’s Tacos.” 

In my view, a better plan would have involved adding outdoor seating and perhaps a garage-style door connecting patrons to the landscaping along Alameda and adding to a sense of “urban bustle.” 

I put this term in quotes, but it’s a real thing. Being able to see people in an indoor/outdoor space encourages others to come into the business and patronize it. Connecting what’s happening inside a building to what’s going on outside keeps public spaces from feeling empty or dangerous. It’s what the Belmar Groves projects gets right and the Torchy’s Taco project ignores.

  

Mason's Dumpling Shop: Another Promising New Belmar Restaurant

Another promising new restaurant opened recently in downtown Lakewood's Belmar neighborhood. Mason's Dumpling Shop serves handmade boiled, steamed and pan-fried dumplings. The owners are restaurateurs from Los Angeles and the Belmar Mason's is their third Colorado location. 

Now, I wouldn't call myself a dumpling expert, but I have eaten a lot of dumplings over the years, including at restaurants that are often hyped as the best of the best--specifically, Din Tai Fung and Goubuli Dumpling--so I was excited to try Mason's.

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwan-based chain that makes some of the best soup dumplings you can get. When you walk into their Seattle location, you walk past a glass window showing the kitchen crew hard at work rolling out and filling an enormous number of dumplings. The amount of dumplings that location makes in a day must be incredible, and it shows in the amazing freshness of the dumplings they serve. The dumplings I ate there were about as perfect as any I've ever eaten.

Meanwhile, dumpling aficionados know Goubuli Dumpling (狗不理包) is a restaurant in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin that is world-famous for its dumplings and buns. Rather like Din Tai Fung, Goubuli Dumpling serves their signature dish in astonishing quantities, and their sprawling, labyrinthine location is always packed. I'm sure there are debates about whether Goubuli Dumpling is too touristy, but I found their dumplings tasty and absolutely perfectly-prepared.

What do I consider tasty? Basically, I like dumplings when they're served hot and evenly cooked--not too doughy but also not too chewy (or crispy, if pan-fried). Cooking dumplings like that is something I suspect takes a lot of practice, because over the years I've had a lot of dumplings that were pretty mediocre, even at otherwise really top-notch restaurants. These places didn't specialize in dumplings, and it showed. 

On the day I went to Mason's, they were advertising that they were in a "soft opening" and still working to get everything just right. 

As we went in, I was impressed with the remodel of the location from its previous incarnation as a seafood-slash-sports bar (Seafood Empire), and I was glad to see the annoying big screen TVs gone. (I hate restaurants with televisions in them, but that's another story). Mason's isn't fancy, but it's clean and comfortable. Vibe-wise, it reminds me of a typical dumpling house you might wander into in Los Angeles' Monterey Park neighborhood. (Side note: if you're ever in Monterey Park, Mama Lu's Dumpling House is worth the long lines.)

At Mason's, we ordered six or seven dishes off the menu. First up were the pan-fried pork dumplings, and I was blown away at how perfectly they were cooked. Really, they were that outstanding. They were so good that we immediately ordered a second plate. Unfortunately, the dumplings in that second round were alternately too doughy on one side and too crisp on the other. The cook, it was clear, had rushed the second order and not paid enough attention to getting them just right.

Next we tried the soup dumplings. I find these way too doughy at places like Star Kitchen (really, they just never seem to get them the way I like them), so I was pleased to find Mason's soup dumplings cooked perfectly. To round things out, we ordered the pan fried beef, cheese and onion dumplings and several steamed buns--the stewed Angus beef and stewed pork belly. These were well-received by my party, with the light fluffiness of the buns and the savory stewed beef as the standouts.

Overall, it was a fun, tasty meal and I absolutely recommend you go by and try the place. Certainly I'll be back again to see how things have progressed once they're fully open. If they can make every order of pan-fried pork dumplings as good as that first plate we received, Mason's Dumpling House is going to be a hit.