.
I did the walk on Monday in bright sunshine. Cool, but a relief from several days rain with more to come. The seasons are moving on apace.
The Social at 1812 Commercial has revamped and re-opened its rooftop patio in time for the early summer.
Image: Georgia Straight
Fratelli’s Bakery at 1795 Commercial, and Livia at 1399 Commercial made it onto Dished’s Top Bakeries in the City.
Sal y Limon at 1752 Commercial is lauded as one of the city’s best cheap eats according to the Georgia Straight.
Take Thai Home at 1736 Commercial has closed and the storefront is vacant. They have switched to a delivery model based, I believe, in Burnaby.
The situation at the eastside intersection of Commercial and Graveley has become more interesting. On the south-east corner, the former Norman‘s is still closed. I now hear that the new owners are thinking of opening a diner-style restaurant on the site. On the north-east corner, both Dolce Amore and Hanai are still closed after the fire. However, it has been suggested that when Dolce Amore receive the go-ahead to rebuild, they may take both spaces as Hanai will probably not come back. Just street talk, though; nothing definite.
In Changes #142 we noted that Karma Optical at 1325 Commercial was closing. It is morphing into Karma Optometry under new management.
The corner boutique at 1204 Commercial has got itself a bright — very bright — new paint job.
As noted last month, Community Taps at 1191 Commercial has closed. It is, apparently, to be replaced by a new location for the Sing Sing Beer Bar, part of the Freehouse Collective which recently has been going through a Creditors Arrangement refinancing and reorganization. Speculation is that early May will be its opening. I hope they try to get some community goodwill by replacing the mural that used to grace the exterior but has recently been whitewashed.
At 1105 Commercial, Sweet Cherubim also makes it onto Georgia Straight‘s list of cheap eats.
Vacancies on the Drive this month:
2105 Commercial, 2062 Commercial, 1736 Commercial, 1604 Commercial, 1588 Commercial, 1414 Commercial, 1409 Commercial, 1230 Commercial, 1204 Commercial, 1191 Commercial, 938 Commercial.
This does not include Hanai or Doce Amore which are still closed due to fire damage.
Previous editions of Changes on the Drive
Jak's View of Vancouver v.3 
Hi Jak,
I love your Changes on the Drive columns… but totally disagree with you re the ugly cartoonish mural on the Community wall. I for one am very happy to see it disappear. There is so much good mural art that could be there and we have so many good local artists. We don’t need a Disneyesque cartoon.
Fair comment.