To step off the gritty sidewalk into the simple frame buildings is to go through a looking glass and into the hoped-for future of Sierra Foothills dining.

For a moment I lay on the gritty sidewalk, listening to the blood pound in my ears.

I shrieked at Marla once we were striding along the gritty sidewalk.

I trotted across the gritty sidewalk, feeling in my pocket for my new cell phone.

They went to the playground, to the gritty sidewalks, even to the movies.

He strode briskly along the gritty, blistering hot sidewalk, almost giddy with delirium as he put his muscles and bones further to the test.

For a 40-baht ticket (less than a dollar), the train also provides an excellent rooftop tour of a city most only see from its gritty sidewalks.

"See that," he said, pointing to a faded painting on the gritty sidewalk.

Lepidopt shuffled north along the damp, gritty sidewalk, staring down at his sneakers.

Many afternoons find Mr. Goodwin kneeling on some gritty sidewalk here, appraising a faded A.T.M. receipt, a tuft of dryer lint, the scraps of a torn-up letter.