Reno has always been a part of my world. My grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins have lived here as long as I can remember and I grew up coming to good ole Reno, Nevada, for most holidays and random weekend trips here and there. Every time someone would mention Midtown growing up, one of the adults would always say it was a sad situation that it had become run down.
Then as I grew older the conversations began to shift, “Midtown is on the up and up '' they would say, or “it’s slowly getting better.” When I decided to come to Reno for university, I had lots of friends that would want to spend our Friday or Saturday nights in Midtown so I figured I'd give it a shot.
I remember one of the first times I drove through Midtown, it was during the winter and I was deeply regretting my decision to come to Reno for school when I used to live in California, where there were no winters.
So, in the height of my Reno blues, I happened to drive through our little Midtown. And Midtown made me fall in love with Reno all over again.
It was hustling with all sorts of people- the kind of cool mountain people that tend to flock to Reno. I could see the blend of the past and the present coming together. There were vintage liquor store signs next to hip vegan restaurants, old brick buildings housing modern bars, clothing stores and restaurants.
Midtown has become one of my favorite places in Reno.
My favorite restaurant (probably of all time) is Great Full Gardens. My cousin and I go to My Favorite Muffin for cute Saturday morning dates. One of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to is Press Start. on Center street, where you can play arcade games and pinball machines.
There truly is something for everyone in Midtown. For me, it is the perfect mix of mountain and weird that all brought me here to Reno in the first place.