Around Town: Latest Las Palmas About Ready as Chain Marks 27 Years. Goodbye Pizza, Hello Oriental

Las Palmas is just about ready to open its third Rome area location, this one in Armuchee Village in the all-too-brief home of El Rancho.

The operators have spent two months making some changes, inside and out, at 3349 Martha Berry Highway. They most recently posted a video on the Facebook home of the original Rome site (Shorter) with a brief look at the restyled interior.

We recommend giving it a listen if only to hear the narrator’s pronunciation of “Ar — mur — chEEEE (sounds like a “hard” A).

The hours will be 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

The location itself has a storied history of tenants — earlier spins on Mexican, barbecue and a few others. This is the first “chain” to open there.

The new location comes as Las Palmas celebrates 27 years, opening in 1997.

Other local sites include Shorter Avenue, Riverside Parkway, U.S. 278 in Rockmart and an outparcel at Main Street Marketplace, home of the massive Kroger in Cartersville.

From pizza to oriental

The Pizza Hut/Wing Stop at 1015 Martha Berry Blvd. abruptly closed in January after 14 years, leaving the Shorter Avenue location to serve fans in Greater Rome.

On the way in is Osaka Restaurant; Jian Feng Wei of Rome was scheduled to appear before the Alcohol Control Commission Monday evening in hopes of getting a beer and wine pouring license for the restaurant.

A check of the site on Monday showed no signs of the latest venture.

The genre will be oriental, which has proven popular in our area especially in recent years even after the closings of China City on Martha Berry Highway and with Sumo giving way to Sparrow Pointe senior residences just up the road from Osala’s new home.

Look at the “triangle” formed by Ichiban and Happy Wok at Charles Hight Square with Blue Fin just down Turner McCall; Ru San’s on North Broad in Five Points; Rock ‘N Roll Sushi is a hit on Broad Street with Chef Chen and Panda Express nearby.

Some include Roman Ramen in the mix while West Rome has Golden Crown off Redmond and New China Buffet while Soho continues to draw well on Shorter Avenue.

Popcorn & Politics

The “state” of the North Carolina precinct: A year ago, Floyd County’s elections board decided to consolidate some of the 25 area precincts while renaming others. Among them was the North Carolina precinct, redubbed “Coosa.”

Upon further review, it is now known as Coosa with North Carolina in brackets. Says the county:

“Originally, the (elections) board decided to change the name from North Carolina to Coosa due to confusion within the electorate believing they had been registered to vote out of state. Hence, to both honor the history of Floyd County as well as assist in limiting confusion, the official name moving forward will hereby be known as Coosa (North Carolina).”

Voters will continue to vote at Pisgah Baptist Church at 5603 Alabama Highway although the precinct used to be at Coosa Middle School until 2022.

Coosa (North Carolina) saw around 170 voters in the May primary as well as 250 in the March presidential races.

Food fight: So the 2024 presidential campaign has come down to real kitchen-table issues — food.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz took some heat when talking about his preference for low-spice “white guy tacos.” And then came the comments and video about presidential hopeful Kamala Harris’ binge-eating Doritos.

Perhaps both breaking-news items counter the reoccurring references to Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump regarding Cheetos.

If nothing else, the dueling snakes are cross-party endorsements from brand owners Frito-Lay.

Calendar:

Today-Thursday: Democratic National Convention continues in Chicago. Floyd County Democrats have a Thursday watch party beginning at 8:30 p.m. at Mellow Mushroom as Kamala Harris♦ accepts the party’s nomination.

This evening: Floyd County elections board♦ meets, with caucus at 5:30 and regular session at 6 p.m. Agenda includes an update on “media policies.”

Peaks & Valleys

The highs and lows of Northwest Georgia

Upon further review, peak to postponing Friday’s football games: The first hints at potential severe weather surfaced Thursday night but really didn’t stick until another heads up midafternoon Friday. By kickoff that evening, the threat was real and many area games went into lightning/weather delays. Most games eventually were delayed until the next night as the storms raged on. That’s the right call when it comes to protecting the teams, parents and other fans. And yes, this has been a weird start to the high school season overall.

Valley to having to add more security at precincts: Cobb County made national headlines last week when panic buttons were approved for precinct managers for use in the upcoming election. That’s in addition to other security steps. The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement have had officers stationed at Rome and Floyd precincts for years to ensure the safety of voters, precinct workers and others. It is an absolute shame such precautions are needed.