Reply With QuoteDing Ding Ding!!Originally Posted by tamtagon
Also vman, I agree. The Chilis in downtown Chicago is always packed with tourist and everyday Joes when we have a TON of other options.
Downtown's grocery store should be in the Statler Hilton. Eatzi's would be perfect there.
Ding Ding Ding!!
Also vman, I agree. The Chilis in downtown Chicago is always packed with tourist and everyday Joes when we have a TON of other options.
Or the Praetorian site after that building is gone. A nice well-lit entrance on Main Street with cafe and seating along Stone Street. Of course, Phil Romano has no interest in downtown so you can cross Eatzi's off the list.
Also, it's a Dallas company. Which adds to the appeal.
A Whole Foods would be great.
^Yes, a Whole Foods would be awesome. While we're at it, Harrods' first US outlet and a Bloomingdales. Perfect. Problem solved.
Walked by the store today and it's still open. You wouldn't tell that anything has changed just by looking.
Yeah the articles say that they are simply putting it on the market to see if they can get any interest on the space or even the urban market business itself. For now the store will continues to operate as it has for the last year or so as a barely running grocery restaurant. If they can't find a buyer they probably will fold the business entirely.
How is the one on Southside on Lamar doing? (didn't they put one in over there?)
Good question the one in South Lamar was a glorified 7-eleven though so I'm not sure it was plagued by the same issues.
Um, no, downtown really does not need a Chili's.
Instead of a Chili's, I would like to see a cafe that serves "real" food. Perhaps a Corner Bakery or Panera Bread Co.
There is a Corner Bakery in West End and one over by Plaza of the Americas.
I've always thought Cafe Express would do well downtown
I think CHILI's is is exactly the type of restaurant that downtown does need. It's inexpensive and caters to the masses of all ages. Whenever there's anything going on with lots of teens or families downtown, which is often, I notice them wandering around like lost sheep. There is nothing downtown that caters to to them, not to mention the tons of convention attendees, tourists, and people that are not that adventurous in regard to dining, that want something familiar and not an expensive, trendy downtown eatery. I don't think we need too many places like Chili's...don't wanna be DTFW, but a couple of large, familiar, popular, pedestrian eateries downtown is not a bad thing at all.
Cafe Brazil...24 hour coffee...
Of course it would probably take away some business from the Central location.
The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands. - Robert Persig
I sort of agree...but that makes me sad.
The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands. - Robert Persig
Didn't the Chili's in DTFW close a year or more ago? I think that Jake's has replaced it.
Don't expect much in the way Brinker corporate building the location. They're not in the business of building restaurants right now. It would have to be a franchise and someone who knows how to make it work. The rent on a space large and prominent enough would most likely necessitate a minimum AUV of 3 million+ to make any money.
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Not sure about downtown Ft. worth, but the previous downtown Dalllas Chilis didn't last very long at all.
...and from the one in Deep Ellum.
Where was the downtown Chili's and how long did it operate?
I think some one is being generous with their usage of downtown and referring to the circa 2009 AAC Chili's. It had bad owners, bad signage, a bad market, and bad hours. It was doomed from the get go.
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American Airlines Center
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfa..._night_thu.php
Wow. Thanks, I remember that. For some reason I was thinking there was a Chili's downtown in the 90s that I wasn't aware of.
I'm really surprised one never went into the West End in the early 90's. There are several other Brinker places over there.
I forgot about that one!
The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands. - Robert Persig
Hate to say it, but it's a cool building with a cool story, but a lousy retail location on a downtown side street.
What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers?
Mechanical Engineers build weapons, Civil Engineers build targets.
Yeah....but sigh....they are growing in another direction........................
http://nrn.com/article/eatzis-expands-two-new-locations
Eatzi’s chief executive, Adam Romo, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the Plano store will be newly constructed in a 10,000-square-foot space in an upscale mixed-use center that's currently under development at Parker Road and the Dallas North Tollway.
“We’ll be the retail anchor for the high-end apartments/condos and office space,” Romo said. “We’ll be the first business there.” He added that the center will also include some higher-end casual-dining restaurants.
The visibility is a problem but not too bad... Browder is a perfect gateway to that little nook back there. It can been seen it just needs some help with tasteful directional signage or something.
Of course I am very biased since I live in DPL building and like the convenience of the shop/cafe.... even though the store sucks and is overpriced. I only go there on a whim now or for an emergency. The Walmart market in uptown is much better and visually entertaining.
I used to like the cafe but it's nothing special now. The owner is nice but doesn't seem like the type to try anything drastic to improve things.
"I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction."
A guy named Phil Romano would disagree with you. From http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/a...t-in-whic.html
If you haven't read it, the blog post is a good read on the failure of Urban Market. Of interest:Phil Romano, who's helping to build the restaurant-incubating Trinity Groves in West Dallas, has long maintained downtown doesn't have near the density to sustain one of his stop-and-shop eateries.
But Gerry Knaus, who says he's managed Urbanmarket for four years, says he's seen the demographics of downtown change during his tenure. "They used to be young professionals," he says, urban pioneers who liked the idea of an upscale market downtown. "Now they're blue-collar types who work in downtown." And they, he says, don't want or need a fancy grocery.
^That article is quite a read but some of the info there is incorrect or to put it mildly some of the info in that article is simply observational commentary rather than truthful data about Downtown. Don't get me wrong Urban Market was a failure for many reasons but it was needed at the time to convince others to continue to investment in the area. Some of the businesses that we have seen come and go Downtown probably wont survive the long haul but they do move the advancement of Downtown forward even if they close after only a couple of years. I imagine its likely that once Downtown has enough residential that more mainstream retailers and restaurants will show up and push out the places we were happy to have when we had nothing Downtown.
That place had a ton of issues starting with location. The largest population in downtown are the people who work in downtown it would have been better served on or near the DART Mall so that people who live outside of downtown could shop. They also tried too hard to replicate a modern grocery store... they should have been a little more like a country store.
I grew up in a town of about 100 people we had 1 little store that could bairly hang on but they just had a splattering of can goods, a deli counter, basic fresh vegitables, milk and a few frozen meets and dinners. That is a little more in line wiht what downtown needed... and probably could have supported... rather then try to compeet with Central market... IMHO
From what I've heard, Urban Market will officially close sometime this week after 7 years
I guess that means no buyers yet. I imagine the space will be sold empty at some future time when the market improves for that section of Downtown. Maybe when they get some of the improvements made to Browder plaza and all those residences open at Lone Star Lofts, Continental, and the Staler Hilton someone will be more interested in something contributing for that space.
Is that just the grocery section or the restaurant too?
"I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction."
What a long, drawn out death that was.
Dallas uber alles
you were waiting years for that, hehe. I still remember the initial bet.
EATZIS? Gah, why do people always want to put the most pretentious places down there?
Heard last night at the Downtown Residents Meeting that a new grocer (no name released) is taking over the space. Any truth to the rumor?
That's what I was told when I bought something from there as they were closing.
welcome back DallasTT!
Urbanmarket, the downtown grocery, is gone. In its place, within six months or so: Urban Orchard. (It’s not a florist.)
http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/2...-orchard.html/
http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/2...-orchard.html/
Downtown should be the most saturated made-meal grab-n-go part of town, but that food service industry segment is just now beginning to recover from municipally forced extinction. Word of the popularity of food trucks all across the country finally reached Dallas city council and municipal regulations were changed to allow that grab-n-go segment to operate again in the region's most densely built neighborhoods. The tunnels have had a near monopoly on grab-n-go lunchtime meals (fast food) in large part because municipal regulations made it difficult to sell lunch to office workers with less than an hour to eat. Additionally, the sidewalks and roads through downtown have been groomed and renovated for the anti-pedestrian.Urbanmarket, the downtown grocery, is gone. In its place, within six months or so: Urban Orchard.
By Robert Wilonsky
October 12, 2012
...But real estate records show: The place has a new tenant with a slightly different name, Urban Orchard. Which is …?
“It’ll be more meal replacement, more prepared foods and a lot less grocery than Urbanmarket,” says Jack Gosnell, the partner at UCR Urban who brokered the deal.
...In other words, it’ll be more like Eatzi’s than a grocery store — even after its founder, Phil Romano, insisted earlier this year that downtown isn’t yet ready for a made-meal grab-n-go.
The city is slowly unbinding the restrictions on the ability to enjoy a grab-n-go meal at the surface level.... building parks, allowing mobile meal deliverers. Sidewalks need to reclaimed, peak commuter vehicular traffic must be redirected away from pedestrian oriented corridors....
anyway, the only reason Phil Romano can say downtown is not ready is because outmoded, outdated regulations continue to stifle the competitive reality of street level permanent made-meal grab-n-go businesses. These places would likely be very profitable for the lunch rush, and at least break even for dinner considering the current residential population.
I understand the regulations that held back food trucks. What laws/regulations are in place to stop these types of shops on ground level indoors?
Seems sooooooo incredibly short sighted of the city.... but I am not surprised of this dynamic.
I hope it changes fast.
"I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction."
Severe signage restrictions... as the song goes, "Downtown, where all the lights are bright..." This only applies to outside of fortress towers. Then again, with so much of most blocks turned over to asphalt for cars, the remnant sidewalks probably couldn't handle the foot traffic.
A little more info in the DBJ, including a prediction from John Crawford:
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/ne....html?page=all
I doubt he has any insider info to back up this prediction other than a few letters of intent and the names of companies who've been kicking the tires for a possible store, but by 2016 we may have a couple thousand more residents downtown, a redeveloped Farmers Market that may look more like a grocery store, and maybe a "high-end food market" at the base of the new Pelli Crescent tower.Crawford expects a grocery store downtown by 2015 or 2016. But for now, Urban Orchard is a nice service to offer residents and downtown workers, he said.
My preference would still be for an urban grocery store (not surrounded by parking and most definitely topped with residential) along Ross Ave near Field, or maybe in the Corbin block, but I wonder if we will even need one if the Farmers Market partners with a grocer and Crescent lands a Whole Foods or Central Market.
One should use the Rouses grocery store in downtown NOLA as a good example. Caters both to the downtown residents and commuters.
http://m.supermarketnews.com/meals/r...wn-new-orleans
Will it just offer prepared meals/salads/sandwiches, or are they going to offer grocery items as well?
It says "Urban Orchard, from Hameed Investment Group LLC, will be 15,000 square feet of organic, natural groceries and 5,000 square feet of made-to-order items."
Ooops! It sure does. Thanks for getting back to me.
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