Downtown restaurants are complaining that they just can’t compete against the pushcarts for lunch business. The Journal Star highlights Fahey’s, which just closed its doors for good, saying the carts pushed them out of business there.
My first thought was, they were located in the basement of the Commerce Bank building. Doesn’t that sound like a great place to go for lunch on a beautiful summer day: the basement? You think maybe location had something to do with their demise?
But then, on second thought, I can see their point. Here you have downtown businesses that have brick and mortar buildings, pay property taxes, and every day they have these pushcarts swoop in and steal the lion’s share of their business. I would be pretty ticked, too.
So what’s the answer? Outlaw pushcarts? No, here’s my suggestion: let the downtown restaurants set up their own pushcarts for free. In other words, define a perimeter and say, any restaurant within this perimeter is free to set up a pushcart on courthouse square. They have to get a permit, but there’s no charge for the permit. Wouldn’t this level the playing field?
My theory is that people like the pushcarts because (a) they like eating outside in the summer, (b) they like being able to have a wide selection of restaurant choices conveniently located near each other, (c) they enjoy the atmosphere of courthouse square where there are regularly-scheduled musical acts, and (d) the pushcarts have really tasty food.
So, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. But businesses that have invested in downtown shouldn’t have to pay an extra fee to join ’em, in my opinion.
Let em have some sidewalk space for an outdoor ‘cafe’.
Yep. Downtown restaurants should be able to set up a cart or
cafe in front of their shop. Problem solved.
Tony & Mahkno –
A cart yes. But if the restaurant has a liquor license and wants outside dining, will the COP waive the extra fee they slap on establishment’s liquor license for an outside dining permit?
And CJ, don’t go wandering off to the Old Bloggers Home or something. You are way too informative to what is going on in this city. If it wasn’t for you and the Blogfather, BD, I’d probably have no clue to what was REALLY going on.
i’m with mahkno — the carts should go. They’re like candy — really fun and enjoyable, but ultimately not healthy (for an urban downtown). We need businesses downtown that are willing to be open year round and more hours of the day that 10:30-1:30.
I am not saying the carts should go. I am saying the restaurants that are down there… heck any restaurant, should be able to work on their sidewalks too. As far as the basement one goes… same deal. The restaurant can hire a couple runners to get stuff from the basement to the outside. I have seen something like that before.
As to liquor… well I have no problem with it being served outside. But.. it should be limited to by the glass. No pitchers.
I miss the cafe’s in Europe… : ( There were pushcarts there too…
I like this idea very much, CJ – and I have seen it in action elsewhere. Visited many cities where local restaurants had some sort of outdoor cart or counter during the summer. Used to live in Seattle – and things were the same there – winter was soooooo gray and depressing that when summer rolled around and the weather was gorgeous, you couldn’t pay people to go indoors for stuff. Seattle vendors of all sorts had outdoor carts in the squares, to catch people where they wanted to be.
Too bad for Fahey’s – but hell, the first rule in most business practices is “location, location, location.” You can’t put yourself in a basement and EXPECT people to come to you. Pushcart vendors aren’t around in the wintertime, what was Fahey’s doing then? You plan for good and bad seasons in business.
Another thought about Seattle – just about every single restaurant downtown, if at all humanly possible, put out tables on the sidewalk during the summer, to the point that I would get totally annoyed having to squeeze between parked cars and their temporary outdoor cafes. But better than than legistlating the fuck out of the free market.
And we have such lovely, wide sidewalks downtown – that I hear vaunted so frequently – why not let local restaurants use ’em.
Sidewalk cafes also encourage community, make the area appear far more lively and interesting, rather than the sterile 8-5 business void that downtown often appears to be.