Having fiddled with its finances, the Music Spot expands the dining and entertainment area, scales down the menu and lowers prices.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published July 15, 2005
Music once again reverberates within the walls of the Music Spot.
Owner Mike Martin closed the restaurant-music store for most of June while he sought protection from creditors in federal bankruptcy court.
He paid some overdue rent and hired a lawyer to handle the proceedings, largely using donations from loyal friends and patrons who responded to an e-mail in May, saying he needed to raise $50,000 by the end of the month to stay in business.
Meanwhile, Martin completed a renovation of the store's interior with hopes of making the business more profitable.
Martin consolidated the area holding compact discs and other music inventory. He expanded the dining and entertainment area, built a stage, installed a sound system and hopes to start booking national acts.
He can now seat more than 100 people in the restaurant, which previously held 64.
"Now there's a ton of elbow and leg room," he said.
He scaled down the menu and lowered prices.
Menu items now include Greek salad, champagne chicken salad, shrimp ceviche, olive tapenade and rotating tapas-style dishes.
Martin said his goal is to offer a place where people can see bands and eat good food, a concept that proved popular in the nearly 18 months since he opened the Music Spot.
"The business has always done fine. It's grown," he said. "But the growth was not able to accommodate the initial debt that I had."
He thinks his new space will bring in more people to hear music, and perhaps they'll buy a CD or two as well.
"I want it to be a nice, comfortable, organic place where people can come and make and see music," Martin said.
The Music Spot is open from 4 p.m. to midnight tonight and Saturday.
Beginning Tuesday, it will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.
