Is Santana Row freezing out Ben & Jerry's?

The owner of the Santana Row Ben & Jerry's claims he is being pushed out by management group Federal Realty. Walid Hazim says he renewed his lease in June 2007 but Federal says he failed to renew the lease. A new tenant, Red Mango, has already been procured and plans to move in as soon as B&J's vacates. I've never heard of Red Mango but apparently they sell frozen yogurt in Hollywood. Aside from the lease disagreement, Red Mango sounds repulsive to me as I hate mangos, and I never knew they were red. I thought they were more of an orange color.

Hazim is fighting back by asking supporters to "write to Santana Row's management company and asking them to rethink their
position and honor the renewal of our lease." You can get more details by stopping by the Santana Row location.

Is Santana Row freezing out Ben & Jerry's?
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9224072

This post has been edited by mobyfan on May 11 2008, 01:47 PM

Red Mango? Huh, haven't heard of them before. I would have figured if Santana Row was trying to be too hip for your own good, they would have landed a Pinkberry. Awww hell, Red is close enough to Pink!

Yeah, I have actually heard of Pinkberry but prolly only cuz it's mentioned on CNN and in the biz section. Wasn't there a Visa ad featuring them? They were trying to get a SBA loan. I don't know where any of them are though and fro yo is so 2 years ago. ;-) I dunno, I still prefer B&J's or Baskin-Robbins, or even Jamba Juice. Or gelato. Or the self-serve fro yo at Colonel Lee's (which btw got a recent makeover). Red Mango? The name still puts a bad taste in my mouth, pun intended.

Colonel Lee's! Goodness, you Bay Area child of the 80's! You mean THAT Colonel Lee's, right? The once popular franchise whose only remaining spot is the one Mongolian BBQ in Mountain View?

I've never tried Pinkberry, but I've read a bit about them. They're an LA thing. They were started by a couple of business partners who wanted to open an English Tea House, but got blocked by the planning department. For whatever reason, a frozen yogurt place was ok, so they went and did that instead.

I didn't know Colonel Lee's was a franchise. Where were the other ones? But yes, the one on Castro. The bldg to the right that used to sell random computer parts and a rack of clothes is now empty, and both CL's and that bldg were remodeled so it looks like it's one bldg but it's still two. CL's is great for lunch but not so much for dinner. The new facade makes it look way too nice -- not really appropriate for CL's. I haven't been inside though.

Yeah, Pinkberry sounds too yuppie and trendy for me. (And this coming from someone who loves Beemers. And has nothing against wealth, as long as it's distributed fairly so that people aren't starving, homeless, etc.)

Oh no, here's a Yelp review that says the got rid of the old school paintings on the walls and changed the name to New Mongolian BBQ, http://www.yelp.com/biz/colonel-lees-mongo...q-mountain-view. Most of the Yelpers here also say Su's (I assume it's the one on El Camino in Santa Clara) is better but I've eaten at both several times and was never very impressed with Su's. I'd take CL's any day. Maybe we should do a SW Dinner Social at CL's.

I have been going to this place for 6 months to a year, and have finally visited since the remodel. The new name is apparently "New Mongolian BBQ".

It's hard to rate this place fairly since I had a relationship with the old staff, but here are my thoughts:

Cleanliness / look: They added marble counters, new floors, and changed the restrooms from 2 down to 1 unisex, but the unisex is nice and clean. Walls are painted a nicer color, although I miss the old-school paintings on the wall. Lighting is darker. They serve your food on a curved fancy plate now, like El Camino BBQ does it.

This post has been edited by mobyfan on May 12 2008, 08:03 PM

The first time I went to Su's was over 20 years ago. My family used to go there at least once a month. It was a hole in the wall joint back then and it still is a hole in the wall joint though it got new owners a few years ago. The last time I was there was about two years ago. I drove by and couldn't believe the place was still there. The history of the neverending rotation of businesses on both sides of Su's was no good omen for its long term survival, but somehow it's managed to buck the odds.

I had to stop in and relive the experience.

So is Su's better or Colonel Lee's?

I don't know. I haven't been to Colonel Lee's in many years. I do like Su's though.