New restaurant gets green light to serve beer, wine

A new restaurant on the northbound access road got the green light from the Planning and Zoning Commission to serve beer and wine.

At its meeting last week, P&Z approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for The Rollin’ Bowl to serve the beverages for on-premise consumption.

“This is replacing what was Newk’s eatery,” said Will Parrish from the city planning department, “and it is an Asian restaurant.”

Parrish said that city staff had a discussion with the applicant regarding noise, since residents of the adjacent Sunset Acres neighborhood had voiced concerns about noise coming from the Olive Garden parking lot after hours. The Rollin’ Bowl, 54th Street and Olive Garden have an agreement to share parking lots. Staff recommended that the CUP be granted if Rollin’ Bowl employees are not permitted to park in the Olive Garden parking lot.

“Customers under this permit would be able to park anywhere on the site,” Parrish said. “... but employees would not be able to.”

Only one person, San Marcos resident Lisa Marie Coppoletta, spoke against granting the CUP.

“I’m worried about drunks going through neighborhoods,” she said, noting that she always opposes CUPs when they are for businesses near neighborhoods.

The Rollin’ Bowl will be an approximately 4,000-square-foot restaurant with 143 indoor seats and 25 outdoor seats. The menu includes sushi, pho, vermicelli, stir fry and a variety of other Asian dishes. 

In other business last week, P&Z named Commissioner Kate McCarty to the city’s CUP committee and named Jim Garber and Mark Gleason as P&Z chair and vice chair.