By NATE KING
Salina Post
Last month, Salina business owner Tim Blake of Wheat State Hospitality, Inc., received the Salina Downtown Inc., Good Neighbor of the Quarter award. Tim and his brother, Wes, own the Prickly Pear Grill and Cantina in downtown Salina.
Tim stopped by for an interview with Salina Post to share what it meant to win the first Good Neighbor Award of 2023 and how business has been at the cantina since opening its doors.
Billed as the unofficial front porch for downtown Salina, the Prickly Pear Grill & Cantina, located at 123 S. Santa Fe Avenue, is a Tex-Mex infused eating and entertainment venue. The Blake brothers opened the cantina's doors in August of 2022.
"Salina Downtown Incorporated has just been fantastic in welcoming us to the downtown neighborhood. We opened the Prickly Pear, my brother Wes and I, in August, and it's it, you know, it's been a labor of love, but it's been highly rewarding," Blake said.
Salina Downtown Inc. presented Blake with the first quarter 2023 Good Neighbor of the year award on Jan. 24.
Leslie Bishop, executive director for Salina Downtown Inc., presented Blake with the award, which will be housed at the Prickly Pear for the first quarter of 2023.
"Tim has been such a terrific neighbor. He provides live entertainment for downtown guests and he works with our office and is always willing to lend a hand. We just love having him downtown," Bishop said.
Renovation work on the building began in 2020 after Tim and Wes purchased the prime Santa Fe real estate, now located adjacent to Campbell Plaza.
"To renovate that building and to put that concept down there [downtown] was just a project we had to be a part of," Blake said. "We're always working on it always trying to make it better. Five months in it is a project we're very proud of it and I think we'll be successful for a long time."
Blake said that the COVID-19 pandemic did interfere with the timing of opening their doors.
"The renovation of that the building that we're in downtown was extensive,” Blake said. "It's almost a complete rebuild of an old building, and with that brought a lot of different challenges. The pandemic certainly didn't help. To finally get to open in late 2022 was a long time coming but it's a project we think we did right and we're proud of and how it turned out."
Their goal was to create a comfortable, family friendly environment that would include indoor and outdoor seating in addition to frequent live music. The cantina's menu has oversized salads, loaded tacos, and mouth-watering over-the-top hamburgers.
The Blakes also own and operate Hickory Hut BBQ in Salina. Tim Blake is Salina native and graduate of Salina South High School.
"We wanted to create a space that was family friendly, but it was all season, all time of year and frankly all time of day," Blake said. "Whether you are down for an early lunch at 11:30 a.m. or you're going to be there late into the evening for a live music event or a show with the Stiefel, we wanted to make a good well-rounded venue."
Blake, who spent 15 years of his career in financial planning, said that booking musical acts was something that he learned relatively recently, but it was always a planned aspect of the cantina.
"Until last July, I'd never booked a band in my life," Blake said. "It's something that you know, I think we've we've made a lot of strides in and throughout our fall season, after we had opened, we did offer live music on on many Friday and Saturday nights. Headed into this year, we've already filled out our calendar and our goal."
Blake said that guests of Salina Downtown can expect to see solo, duo and acoustic acts performing on Friday and Saturday nights, as soon as the weather allows.
Live music acts aren't the only thing guests can expect to see in the new Campbell Plaza. A mural painted by world renowned Dutch artists, Telmo Pieper and Miel Krutzmann can be seen on the adjacent wall to the Prickly Pear. The mural was created as part of the BOOM Salina art movement that took place in October of 2022.
"Travis Young and the people that worked on the Kanvas project over the last year have started this program and installations of several different murals in downtown Salina and they've received a lot of attention," Blake said. "If you've been downtown, it's impossible not to notice them."
The Prickly Pear also showcases a mural depicting a familiar Kansan and pioneer in women in aviation, Amelia Earhart.
"I believe and really, Salina is already on the map of becoming a tourist hub," Blake said. "Those murals I think will quickly become a part of the fabric of downtown Salina. If you haven't been to downtown Salina in a while, I welcome you down. Come check us out. Go out to eat, go to a concert. Downtown Salina is on the rise."