Attention foodies: You can now get your fresh produce fix every Saturday morning right here in Bullhead City. But that’s not all…

I was pretty jazzed when I learned about the new Farmers Market, which had it’s first run today at the Colorado Place on Highway 95 at Riverview Dr.

On an economic level, there’s the obvious benefit of supporting local businesses by generating sales dollars. Also, most Farmers Markets I’ve been to also provide more off-beat (for lack of a better word) vendors a storefront to showcase their product. I’m talking about candles, soaps, crafts and handmade products of all sizes and shapes. And of course, let’s not forget the staple – fresh produce, often grown by local farmers and sometimes of the organic variety.

More than fresh fruit and veggies at good prices though, there’s a social benefit to the community that interests me. Farmers Markets are a place where people can get out of the house and mix with other locals. That’s the sort of intangible that gives some soul to a community.

I’ve noticed this movement over the last few years away from the standard shopping mall and toward something else. A retail palce where people congregate, or just hang out. It’s good for business and it’s good for the community.

Go to Southern California and you’ll find places like The Grove in Los Angeles, which is essentially an outdoor shopping mall in a beautiful lake setting. You can go shopping, grab lunch, or just sit by the water and listen to music.

If you’re one who makes the drive from Bullhead City to So Cal frequently, maybe you’ve seen or stopped off at the mall in Rancho Cucamonga off of I-15 . In the Pheonix area there’s Arizona Mills Mall, Green Valley has The District and so on.

Some of these malls have carousels, others have water features that children run through while parents watch on from plush lounge chairs. These are family friendly places where people get out, hang out, and of course shell out some money along the way. You don’t have to shop or spend money to get in, but chances are you will, even if it’s just a bite to eat.

So what does all of this have to do with a Farmers Market in Bullhead City? Plenty I think.

We’re not getting a multi-million outdoor shopping mall with major retailers anytime soon, but this is a great step in the right direction. So I stopped by this morning to check the place out first hand.

As you can see in the photo above, there’s only a handful of vendors (this is the first day), but there was a small group of people gathering around the produce making purchases as the the live music was setting up at the Firehouse Coffee booth. Very cool!

They had everything from corn to giant black berries, italian and yellow squash, melons, cheries (two bucks a pound!), grapes and lots more. Even some organic stuff. Some of it is from local farmers, others trucked down on Thursday and Friday from Norethern California. There were also a few other non-food vendors there.

It really looked like a successful first day in the making. I’ll be following up with one of the produce guys this week to see how they did. I’ll keep you posted.

You can check out the Farmers Market next Saturday from 6 – 11 am. Map to Bullhead City Farmers Market

No related posts.

Office Depot didn’t give themselves much of a chance, really. Many new stores were busy establishing locations at the South end of Bullhead City near the Target store that opened last March, but Office Depot picked a pretty inconspicuous spot in the corner of the Riverview Mall, set back from Highway 95. Worse, it was very close to the well-established, more visible Office Max location closer to the Highway.

With Office Depot announcing the closing of their store and bringing in a liquidator to clear out their merchandise, Home Depot wants you to know that they are “here for the community.” In this Mohave Daily News article, store manager Forrest Frazier says that any rumors they may be closing are untrue:

We’re not going anywhere… We’re not laying anybody off.

I’ve been here for 20 months. We haven’t had any layoffs. We continue to do business as normal.

Since I’ve gotten here, it hasn’t gone up or down. It’s sustaining itself.

The increase in services available to Bullhead City in the last few years has been quite impressive. There was a time not long ago when trips out of the area to satisfy the shopping needs of local residents was routine. Not today. Surely Home Depot is feeling the effects of the drop in new construction, but who isn’t? Many local retailers are offering amazing discounts to move their merchandise, and Home Depot is no different:

so if you find a product at another place in town at a lower price, we’ll match it and beat it by 10 percent… Some (Home Depot prices) are up to 50 percent lower

So it appears they are doing what they feel it takes to stay competitive.

Bullhead City, Kingman, and Lake Havasu have joined forces with their Shop Local campaign designed to encourage local residents to keep it, well, local.  It’s good to see that the retailers themselves are taking action as well.

Related posts:

1. Home Buyer Workshop This Week
2. Home Buyer Workshop a Success

In every town, in some out of the way location, there’s a good place to eat that only the locals know about. Bullhead City is no exception, and House of Siam is one such place.

Welcome to the third installment of “Where to eat in Bullhead City”, a series in which I highlight some local places worth checking out. The first two places I’ve covered can be found here:

• Pit Stop Grill
• Antonucci’s Restautant

And now for this week’s entry:

House of Siam

Map to House of Siam in Bullhead City, Arizona

680 Hancock Rd
Bullhead City, AZ 86442
(928) 758-9333

House of Siam is a small, family run Thai restaurant that serves good food at a great price. It’s location on Hancock Rd. puts it a couple miles from the main road of Highway 95 and makes it one of those places you have to know about to know about.

They have most of the dishes you would expect to find at a quality Thai restaurant, including some excellent soups and salads. And lunch specials. You know those lunch specials that most of the Chinese places have, with soup, an egg roll, and rice for five or six bucks? House of Siam has those as well, and at similar prices. They just taste better.

You can grab a beer or wine, or better yet go for the Thai Iced Tea.

Keep in mind this is a small, casual, neighborhood restaurant. You’ll find nothing fancy here. Just good food at great prices.

I’ve been eating at House of Siam for ten years and I’ve never once had a bad meal. If you like Thai food, I think you’ll like it.

Related posts:

1. Where to Eat in Bullhead City

Do you live in Bullhead City? Just visiting? Either way, you’ll want to know where to get a bite to eat.

There are always the buffets and other restaurants across the river in Laughlin. They’ve got some good spots in the casinos there, but there are also some tasty restaurants on this side of the river in Bullhead City. Last week I talked about Pit Stop Grill on the Bullhead Parkway. Pit Stop is a casual dine-in or take out kinda place. They’got good food, good prices, a lot of choices, and quality ingredients. Great burgers!

In the spotlight this week (remember, these posts are in no particular order):

Antonucci’s Restaurant

Map to Antonucci’s Restaurant in Bullhead City, Arizona

3061 Highway 95
Bullhead City, AZ 86442
(928) 763-8118

No, Antonucci’s is not a Vietnamese take out. And no, you won’t find Gyros there, either. What you will find is some very reliable, fresh, great-tasting Italian food.  They serve lunch and dinner Monday – Saturday, closing on Sundays (too bad). Hey, it’s a family run place and the family needs a day off somtimes so don’t hold it against them! I’ve been going to Antonucci’s since I moved to Bullhead City.

Antonucci’s serves up some great pizzas, calzones, and lots of pasta dishes and salads. Most of their entrees come with a salad and their Bianca bread, which is like pizza without the sauce and cheese plus some seasoning. Good stuff! Some other good choices are Gus’s Lasagna, Chicken Piccatta, or Chicken Marsala. They have lunch specials, too.

If you’re looking for a casual family place next time you’re in Bullhead City be sure to check out Antonucci’s. If you like Gus’s Lasagna, stop by the bar and let him know.

Related posts:

1. Where to Eat in Bullhead City #3
2. Where to Eat in Bullhead City

Being a Bullhead City real estate broker, it’s not surprising that many of my posts here are closely related to Bullhead City real estate. You’ll find lots of market reports, stats, and detailed info about homes in the Bullhead City area.

Hey, I like a good statistic as much of the next guy (probably more), but numbers you can only entertain us for so long. That’s why I like to mix in other information about the area, including news and events in Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, Mohave Valley, Laughlin, and some state and national stuff as well. The goal, as the tag line says, is Connecting you to Bullhead City. That opens the door to anything that might be important to visitors and home owners in Bullhead City and the surrounding area. So the way I see it, if you live in Bullhead City, part time or full time, you’ve got to know where to get a good meal.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be highlighting a few places I think are worth checking out in the Bullhead City area. First, you should know about my qualifications to comment on restaurants:

• I like to eat – Let’s be real. I’m about as close to my high school weight as my high school age. I don’t miss many meals.
• I like to cook – Call it a hobby. I get a kick out of cooking for people.
• I’ve worked in restaurants – From delivery boy in high school to waiter to bartender to manager, I’ve spent my time in all parts of the restaurant. Yes, it’s been almost fifteen years, but it seems like the inner restaurant guy never quite goes away.

So the truth is I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to going out for a meal. If I’m going to part with a few bucks instead of cooking myself, it needs to be decent.

OK. Enough background. I’ll mention one place per post, and post maybe once a week on this topic for the next few weeks (in no particular order). Today I’m starting with the newest place to make my cut.

Pit Stop Grill

Map to Pit Stop Grill in Bullhead City

2440 Adobe Road
Bullhead City, AZ 87662
928-542-4667

Pit Stop Grill is one of the few places to eat along the Bullhead Parkway, which makes them a convenient choice for many residents in neighborhoods such as Fox Creek, El Camino Village, Laughlin Ranch, and Desert Foothills, and also for those that use the Bullhead Parkway in their commute to Laughlin. They are open 7 days a week and even serve breakfast. It’s a very casual place offering dine-in, take out, and delivery.

Their menu has a surprisingly large selection and reasonable prices, particularly considering they make all their food to order. Try the Pit Stop Burger (Cheeseburger with bacon and avocado) and home made onion rings. Debra, the owner, tells me they season their ground beef and make their own patties in house. After eating one, I believe her.

They have all kinds of stuff, from salads to sandwiches, omelets to baby back ribs and pizza.

Pit Stop Grill, which has only been open a couple of months now, offers up a great combination of freshness, taste, and price, in a very casual setting. Well worth checking out.

Related posts:

1. Where to Eat in Bullhead City #2

Take a virtual tour of Bullhead City, Arizona

I recently went golfing at the El Rio Country Club in Mohave Valley. It’s a beautiful course with a really nice clubhouse. The photos I took on my Treo didn’t come out good enough to post, but that got me thinking about the virtual tour of Bullhead City we put together for our relocation clients. It has a couple of shots of the El Rio Country Club, and lots of photos of other spots in the Bullhead City area:

• Golf Courses
• Colorado River
• Aerial Views of Bullhead City
• Boat Launches
• Bullhead City Parks
• Arizona Veterans Memorial
• Housing Developments
• Other Bullhead City attractions

The “ENTERING BULLHEAD CITY” sign is the opening shot of the virtual tour and actually was the splash screen for the Bullhead Laughlin Realty website once upon a time (before pop-ups became the annoyance they are today).

If you’d like a copy of our virtual tour of Bullhead City I’d be happy to share it with you. Just drop me an email.

Related posts:

1. Boys and Girls Club Gets New Executive Director, Tomlinson
2. Tri State Renaissance Faire Scheduled in Bullhead City
3. Light My (Eternal) Fire