Dive Bar owner George Karpaty is expanding his business territory. Two months after opening the mermaid bar and two other businesses on Sacramento's K Street Mall, Karpaty is in the final stages of negotiating a lease for a fourth concept in El Dorado Hills. The San Francisco nightclub owner previously said the bars and gourmet pizza restaurant he opened in Sacramento early this year were pioneer concepts he would like to take elsewhere. Karpaty is now talking with folks in Santa Monica, Hollywood, Las Vegas and Oakland about opening versions of the K Street businesses there, depending on space available. He and Pizza Rock partner Tony Gemignani are also working on plans to open Pizza R

Sacramento residents greeted the city's newest entertainment spots – a mermaid bar, a gourmet pizza restaurant with acrobatic pizza tossers and a high-end dance club – on K Street Mall last week. Pizza Rock, 1020 K St., opened Friday following sneak previews held earlier in the week at all three businesses. Sacramento Press’ Mariel Tagg was at Pizza Rock's grand opening Friday, talking to first-time customers and getting some background from co-owner Tony Gemignani: http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/43794/Pizza_Rock_opens_to_the_public Grand openings for Dive Bar and District 30, which flank Pizza Rock, will be held Wednesday. Community contributors Kati Garner and Ron Nabity co

The K Street Mall saw some unusual activity last night as the Dive Bar/Pizza Rock VIP Party came to life. Located between 10th and 11th Streets, three new development projects are reaching completion with the intention of pumping new life into the pedestrian mall area. The Dive Bar boasts an enormous salt water fish tank above the bar, complete with live "mer-people" swimming leisurely overhead. Pizza Rock offers gourmet pizzas, a full bar stretching underneath a life-size Peterbilt truck rig crashing through the wall. Pizza Rock's ceiling displays a variation on Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" from the Sistine Chapel - in this version God is handing an electric guitar to Adam. A plush d

The downtown portion of K Street saw a lot of activity in 2010, from streetscape improvements to community debate over the redevelopment of troubled portions and the construction of new nightlife venues. At the beginning of the year, portions of K Street were still torn up from the previous year’s streetscape improvement project. A Sacramento Press article from February covered the ongoing improvements, which have since been completed. By late March, the city was discussing the next step in the process and considering four proposals for the 700 and 800 blocks of the street. The plans for K Street were the subject of significant public debate, with historians, developers, residents and b

Three new façades add a bit of “wow” to K Street Mall. Work is close to wrapping up on San Francisco nightclub owner George Karpaty's new businesses, Dive Bar, District 30 and Pizza Rock. A month away from the expected openings, contractors applied some of the finishing touches to the exteriors Thursday. The bar, club and restaurant technically occupy one building, owned by Sacramento developer David Taylor and CIM. But the exteriors were rebuilt to look like three distinct, separate spaces – from sleek contemporary to slightly edgy to quaint, Old World charm. The façades are like book covers, designed to entice by giving just a taste of what's inside, said the project's architectural d

Sacramento’s Central City has received a lot of media attention for shootings and muggings in recent months. However, the area is also frequently in the spotlight because of large-scale development projects, such as the downtown Railyards or George Karpaty’s trio of businesses on K Street. The Sacramento Press recently interviewed three City Council members to learn about their plans for the Central City. Councilwoman Angelique Ashby and Councilmen Steve Cohn and Rob Fong shared their priorities for the different parts of the Central City they represent. Ashby’s portion of the area includes the downtown Railyards, K Street, Old Sacramento, Alkali Flat and the River District. Ashby mentio

Sacramentans will have to wait just a little longer to watch pizza makers tossing dough and mermaids swimming over bartenders' heads downtown. The opening of a trio of new K Street establishments – Dive Bar, Pizza Rock and District 30 – has been postponed from this month to late this year. The delay has come from “surprises” that cropped up while building a structurally sound vault under the sidewalk, said San Francisco nightclub operator George Karpaty. "Nobody's really late. It's just the way construction goes," he said. "Big projects run into delays. They've done an outstanding job dealing with all the surprises." The vault will hold three electrical transformers to power the buildi

Dive Bar and two sister nightlife venues are expected to open within three months on K Street, breathing new life into the struggling pedestrian mall well ahead of other developments. San Francisco nightclub operator George Karpaty's trio of nightlife venues has been seen as competition by some at a time when local businesses continue to struggle and even close. Karpaty said he was lured to Sacramento partly by the success of nearby venues such as Social Nightclub, Ella, Grange and the Citizen Hotel. But Karpaty said he's developed concepts — a "mermaid bar," a gourmet pizza restaurant with acrobatic pizza tossers and a high-end, over-30 dance club — to further develop K Street Mall into

OK, now I'm really excited. After the decision by the Sacramento City Council to choose the D&S Development and David Taylor Interests’ Promenade on K project for the 700 and 800 blocks of K Street, I feel good. Finally, there seems to be a plan in place for projects that will bring more life to K Street. But I also want to celebrate the fact that there is already lots of life on K Street - and not just of the undesirable kind. I live near K Street, and most nights, I can ride my bike down the street and see people walking from all manner of venues within the four blocks between Ninth and 13th streets: Marilyn's on K, the Crest, Cosmopolitan Cafe and Cabaret, Social, Ella, Cabana, the E

K Street Mall is getting some activity after work began again on a mermaid bar and two other nightlife venues. San Francisco nightclub owner George Karpaty originally hoped to open Dive Bar, a dance club named District 30 and a gourmet pizza restaurant, Pizza Rock, near 10th and K streets by late 2009. The $6 million-plus project was delayed at least in part by opposition, including a lawsuit to stop it that was thrown out of court last summer. Saying he wanted to move forward, Karpaty declined to discuss the reasons the project on the blighted mall was thrown off schedule. But, he said, he now expects to open all three sites by late summer. "We had some delays. But we're coming," he sa

K Street Mall has seen some movement this month with restaurants reopening renovation continuing and a legal challenge dismissed. Big changes may still be in the works. Two restaurants -- Three Monkeys and the Crepe Cafe -- have reopened in their old spots. Work continues on the renovation of St. Rose of Lima Park and relocation of the adjacent light rail station. In addition, a judge dismissed a lawsuit contesting development of a mermaid bar and two other nightlife venues in the 1000 block of K Street. Following the suit's dismissal, San Francisco nightclub operator George Karpaty said he expects his proposed businesses would help change the city's nightlife landscape. For some time,