yall are funny

the comment about 6 figure is just indicating that some people prefer to save/spend their money elsewhere, like mortgage, kids, car payments, debt, etc....once you have those perhaps $15 lunches will no longer be your daily routine....instead try frozen dinners, packed lunches, etc

the richest people in society are the stingiest........yeah i know that bastillaalala place isn't ashley's, i'm just making a reference to other soon up and coming downtown food options that i hope aren't overpriced

i just want some down to earth restaurants in downtown !

8/19/2011 1:37:52 PM

down to earth restaurants?

what the fuck does that mean?

8/19/2011 1:40:16 PM

I think there's a soup kitchen on the other end of Wilmington St.

8/19/2011 1:40:53 PM

Quote :

"i just want some down to earth restaurants in downtown !"

then lower the fucking rent.

places charge what they do because of the cost of either buying and renovating many of these old buildings, or paying the rent in buildings when someone like Empire goes in and buys it up and renovated it.

we had the Brass Grill downtown for years, and it was very reasonably priced and you got a ton of food. (and it was good). but, unfortunately, they were just pushed out of their lease by Hatem and Empire (at least, that was my understanding).

there have been plenty of inexpensive places downtown.... and they routinely get shut down. just look at that revolving door of restaurants beside the Subway on Salisbury, across from the Wachovia Building.

unless you're long established like Coopers or El Rodeo, the only places downtown that serve lunch that are flourishing are those that do so by pure volume (Jimmy John's and Quiznos, for example), or they do so by price.

even a meal at Shish Kabob can run you over $10, and you're going to drop AT LEAST $7.25 without a drink.

go to that shitty ass Manhattan Cafe place and you're dropping $6.99 for a god damn wrap. when you view the selection and price points as a whole, plus factor in what you're actually getting, springing for a nice $15 lunch at Beasley's once a week is not that bad.

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 1:44 PM. Reason : .]

8/19/2011 1:43:54 PM

I think by "overrated" she's trying to say "pretentious," but you have to expect that in THE DOWNTOWN TYPE SCENE. I don't mind the showiness and pretentiousness as long as the food's good. I'm sure I'll be trying this place during Hopscotch, and I feel as I already knew what to expect for prices and I'm not sure why it's an issue for anybody; especially considering where this place is located.

^This should all be common sense and I didn't feel the need to type all that out, but I agree 100 percent.

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 1:49 PM. Reason : k]

8/19/2011 1:48:16 PM

$6.50 chicken biscuit + $3.50 side of mac and cheese somehow = $15 lunch

8/19/2011 1:54:53 PM

down to earth as in like dickeys, el rodeo, woodys and the tons around Glenwood South are good food, good portions, and reasonably priced, armadillo grill, the diner, mojoes, mellow mushroom, etc etc etc.

they need more of the glenwood south type restaurants in downtown proper than the chain of Ashley or Hatem restaurants

funny thing is yall talking like you eat/afford $15 lunches daily, when i bet that is not the norm for most of you.......and if i'm going to drop $15 for lunch, i'd rather go to Sitti and have some exotic lamb dish with nan

maybe i am just not used to forking out that much for a piece of fried chicken, side, tea, tip.

and yes, overrated as in pretentious, thank you Mr. Scrumples

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 1:58 PM. Reason : k]

8/19/2011 1:56:59 PM

$7 fried chicken breaking the bank ITT

8/19/2011 1:57:51 PM

if you like both Dickeys AND The Diner, then there is no use in arguing with you

8/19/2011 1:59:59 PM

^QFT

I cringed when I saw The Diner

8/19/2011 2:07:49 PM

Quote :

"down to earth as in like dickeys, el rodeo, woodys and the tons around Glenwood South are good food, good portions, and reasonably priced, armadillo grill, the diner, mojoes, mellow mushroom, etc etc etc."

1. 5 of the 7 restaurants you just listed are chains. i trust you understand how that factors into the price points.

2. 4 of the 7 you listed are not really downtown, but on Glenwood South. the rent is higher the further downtown/closer to the Capital you get. again, i trust you understand how that factors into the price points.

3. The cheapest "non-appetizer" item on Mellow Mushroom's menus is a plain cheese pizza at $7.25...... vs. $6.50 chicken biscuit at Beasleys. Here's the menu: http://www.mellowmushroom.com/raleigh#/menu/pizza

4. I like Mojoes, I'm friends with one of the owners of Mojoes, but you're still paying $5 for a burger there. Are they worth it? Absolutely, imho. Is the price point comparable to the best fried chicken you'll ever have in your life at $7.50? It's better, imho. It's also better than 2nd rate Americanized Mexican food at El Rodeo, in terms of what you're getting for your money (and I love El Rodeo).

It sounds like what you want is a downtown full of shitty chain restaurants, whose sole purpose is to serve simpleton palates with comfort food at a reasonable price. If that's what you want, then move to Hickory.

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 2:10 PM. Reason : .]

8/19/2011 2:10:06 PM

and don't get me wrong, i gladly frequent the fine dining establishments for dinner, date, or a night out with friends....but the day will come when a restaurant opens in downtown that doesn't already hype itself up before it even opens b/c it tries to sell on the names of Ashley or Hatem or Patel and thus can expect to charge consumers what they want

just look at how long Fai Thai stayed open....Mint is hurting to break even....Sono is for sale.....

I understand restaurants in downtown need to charge more to recoup high rent, but it's a catch 22, you have to price your food fairly first to draw customers and volume.......not the other way around

open with high prices so you can try to recoup your investments faster first....will never work that way b/c you'll drive away consumers from the get go

8/19/2011 2:10:38 PM

Quote :

"It sounds like what you want is a downtown full of shitty chain restaurants, whose sole purpose is to serve simpleton palates with comfort food at a reasonable price. If that's what you want, then move to Hickory."

no, what i want is a good blend of restaurants at all price levels that draw people into downtown raleigh to frequent, not only high priced pretentious restaurants that open/close within an year...that is NOT a good image for our downtown

look at all the major downtowns, i guarantee you there is a great variety of comfort food at reasonable prices

the impression my out of state friends get when they visit our downtown is overhyped, underdelivered

8/19/2011 2:15:11 PM

I refuse to spend any less than $30 for lunch

8/19/2011 2:18:46 PM

Quote :

"not only high priced pretentious restaurants that open/close within an year...that is NOT a good image for our downtown"

give me some examples of downtown places that have open and closed within a year since 2005.

downtown, not glenwood south, which is a haven for mongoloid guidos and is overrun with bartenders turn bar/restaurant owners that have the business sense of your average lemonade stand runner.... i'm talking downtown only.

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 2:21 PM. Reason : .]

8/19/2011 2:20:42 PM

pretty sure you will die before there's an end to restaurants opening and closing within a year

that's just a fact of life no matter where they open the damn thing...

also I think its hard to call out fai thai and sono...they're specialty cuisine restaurants which are hard to sustain especially in this area

Sitti is specialty and has lasted, but they also have a huge following from the other restaurants the co-owner also has in the triangle area

that's just my opinion

8/19/2011 2:21:01 PM

Quote :

"high priced pretentious restaurants"

8/19/2011 2:22:01 PM

Quote :

"also I think its hard to call out fai thai and sono...they're specialty cuisine restaurants which are hard to sustain especially in this area Sitti is specialty and has lasted, but they also have a huge following from the other restaurants the co-owner also has in the triangle area"

Buku as well. (although, i don't know how long they'll be able to sustain that model)

8/19/2011 2:22:36 PM

I've only been to Buku a few times, but the food has been consistently bad.

8/19/2011 2:23:39 PM

This entire threads is fucking pretentious. We have people in here talking about how others don't know how to spend money properly and some acting like spending $12 on fried chicken on the regular is a smart choice.

The food is good, alright, and just because you eat there doesn't mean that you don't know the value of a dollar. But there is no one here (okay almost no one) who has the money to eat out for $12 every day and not eventually think that they're spending too much on lunch.

Now that I've chastised you all, I'm the pretentious one, fuck...

8/19/2011 2:30:44 PM

these pop off my head immediately, i'm sure there's more if we research
Closed:
Fins (reopened as Buku, still think it will close)
Fai Thai (formerly Duck & Dumpling which closed)
101 Lounge (reopening as Calvera)
Champa
Cherry Bomb (reopened as Brewmasters, still think it will close)

In Jeopardy:
Sono
Oxford
Mint
+ tons of other empty restaurants in the evenings/sunday

Sitti stays open b/c it has good food and generous portion. We went to Fai Thai, I wouldn't even called it Thai, it way overpriced and the food portions were small. They didn't event have Thai iced tea. For Thai around here, I'd rather go to Thaiphoon.

8/19/2011 2:32:52 PM

care to point out where anyone has suggested that people should eat there on a daily basis?

8/19/2011 2:33:04 PM

Where she said

Quote :

"once you have those perhaps $15 lunches will no longer be your daily routine"

But, granted, I didn't read any page of the thread but this one.

8/19/2011 2:35:16 PM

^^ Geppetto pretty much summarized it.

FYI, it is in my best interest to see Downtown Raleigh thrive and I am all for supporting local restaurants. I'm merely sharing my experiences from being in the restaurant business for 20 years and following closely the growth and changes in Downtown Raleigh in the past 10 years.

8/19/2011 2:36:34 PM

Jesus Christ, you people...

$12 on lunch is $240/month. If somebody wants to spend that, it's their business. And I'm baffled that anyone (Geppetto) would suggest that people couldn't reasonably afford that if they wanted to make it a priority.

And, holy crap, will the woman who suggested we "try frozen dinners," please, stop talking.

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 2:38 PM. Reason : ]

8/19/2011 2:37:29 PM

holy hell..... i don't even know where to begin:

Quote :

"these pop off my head immediately, i'm sure there's more if we research Closed: Fins (reopened as Buku, still think it will close) Fai Thai (formerly Duck & Dumpling which closed) 101 Lounge (reopening as Calvera) Champa Cherry Bomb (reopened as Brewmasters, still think it will close)"

I'll keep this as simple as possible: You said opened and then closed in less than 1 year -- of all the examples you gave, only 2 meet that criteria.

of the two you listed, one of them (Cherry Bomb), wasn't closed at all. the two owners had a disagreement, they agreed to split but a name change was required as part of their agreement. now, there's Brewmasters, same menu, same owner, different name.

your previous post made it sound as if there was some downtown plague of high turnover restaurants -- there's not. check the figures with the Raleigh Downtown Alliance and compare it to other cities.

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 2:38 PM. Reason : .]

8/19/2011 2:38:07 PM

the quarterly restaurant figures from Raleigh Downtown Alliance shows mostly a balance, the same new restaurants opening offset by a similar number of restaurants closing

with that turnover, it's alarming and not good for sustaining the restaurant culture in downtown raleigh

btw, jstpack, what are your credentials in the restaurant business/scene, besides just being a customer

8/19/2011 2:43:43 PM

GO EAT YOUR FROZEN DINNERS AND STFU.

8/19/2011 2:44:59 PM

they're gourmet

8/19/2011 2:46:00 PM

it's all good, different strokes for different folks....no hard feelings.
i've expressed enough. have a good day. see you at beasleys.

8/19/2011 2:48:17 PM

Quote :

"$6.50 chicken biscuit + $3.50 side of mac and cheese somehow = $15 lunch"

+ drink + tax + tip

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 2:50 PM. Reason : but even so, krazedgirl appears to have bad taste in restaurants should probably calm the fuck down]

8/19/2011 2:49:12 PM

the portion of chicken i received was well worth the $7.50...same can be said for the sides. can't wait for the full menu to be available

8/19/2011 2:51:08 PM

Quote :

"$12 on lunch is $240/month"

$30 on lunch is only $600 a month. why can't you people afford that?!

8/19/2011 2:59:58 PM

Quote :

"Fins (reopened as Buku, still think it will close)"

Fins did not open and close w/in a year. And if you want to split hairs about it, Fins was originally in North Raleigh and then moved downtown.

The owner of Fins was a partner in Buku as well. Then he sold his share to the other partners and was the head chef at Fai Thai

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 3:01 PM. Reason : r]

8/19/2011 3:01:06 PM

^^^^^Actually, F that.

You were enormously condescending in this thread. Talking about kids and a mortgage and blah, blah, blah... I mean, you actually told us to "try frozen dinners." I don't think I've ever had a more depressing world view imposed upon me.

So none of this "different strokes" crap. I want an apology and a guarantee that I'll never have to be oppressed by your horrible opinions ever again.

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 3:17 PM. Reason : FROZEN DINNERS?!?!?! ]

8/19/2011 3:14:34 PM

Quote :

"Fins did not open and close w/in a year. And if you want to split hairs about it, Fins was originally in North Raleigh and then moved downtown."

almost none of her examples opened and closed within a year.

she could have listed things such as Healthy Track Cafe, which was the path I was leading her down.

Healthy Track Cafe meets her laughable business model regarding cost.... and it lasted all of 6 months.

it's simply not feasible; now, as Raleigh continues to grow, and especially as growth continues back down S. Wilmington Street, i would expect to see the rent/leasing and consequentially, food costs to drop.

in the last 3 to 4 years, we've seen Gravy, Sitti, Wilmoore Cafe, Busy Bee, and now Beasley's open as restaurants on that street and it will likely continue. unfortunately, the guys who bought the Raleigh Sandwich Shop building are hung up in code restrictions right now, so that spot will likely remain vacant for a bit longer unless the city steps up and helps them out.

8/19/2011 3:19:56 PM

Quote :

"FROZEN DINNERS?!?!?!"

I'm pretty sure my freezer here at work is full of these healthy choice frozen things, I don't eat them but it looks fairly common

8/19/2011 3:23:26 PM

THREAD RE-RAIL

I just went to Beasley's for lunch with my girlfriend. We had 2 quarters white, potato salad, greens, 2 teas, and a piece of chocolate chess pie.

The chicken was good but not great. Texture of the breading and chicken was great. The honey is a nice touch, too. I thought the chicken was underseasoned for my taste. The little bits that fell off just tasted like toasted corn flakes. I feel like if you have any relative who makes fried chicken, it's probably gonna be better than Beasley's.

Potato salad and greens were fantastic.

Chocolate chess pie was not so good. Probably the least favorite CCP I've ever had. It wasn't bad per se, there was nothing in particular wrong with it, but it just was not very chocolatey and the texture was more like a bland brownie than I think CCP is supposed to be. The banana was good, though. They put something like bananas foster on top.

Service was really good, very personable, very fast. We actually ordered one quarter white and one quarter dark and got both white, but that's not a big deal. We prefer white anyway, we just wanted to try both.

Total cost was $32.08 before tip.

To me it's like The Pit to me: if I want fried chicken, I'm going to Bojangles. If there are people in from out of town, I'll take them to Beasley's.

Also, the parking deck and probably Moore Square smell DELICIOUS.


[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 3:34 PM. Reason : back to debating the finer point of restauranteursmanship, k]

8/19/2011 3:24:54 PM

Whats the raleigh sandwich shop? Right next to Raleigh Times?

Also, if you follow the TBJ numbers its always 5-7 closings, and 9-10 openings, usually with shitty, cheap places closing and good places opening. At least thats how I've seen it over the last few years. I rarely see a closing and think, man that place had great food. Fai Thai was probably the closest as many thought it was good. But there was some Hatem drama behind that closing, and I doubt that space will remain a "catering kitchen" for too long, especially if they re-do the park.

8/19/2011 3:26:51 PM

Quote :

"Gravy"

I heard the coowner of Gravy (that is not Greg Hatem) is selling his share of the restaurant back to Hatem (just like Ed Mitchell did at The Pit)


I almost went to Beasley's for lunch today but ended up at MoJoe's instead. MoJoes was delish as always

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 3:30 PM. Reason : g]

8/19/2011 3:29:07 PM

I hesitate to criticize Fai Thai because one of my good friends worked in the kitchen there but I just didn't think it was that good.

8/19/2011 3:30:00 PM

Quote :

"DoubleDown: I'm pretty sure my freezer here at work is full of these healthy choice frozen things, I don't eat them but it looks fairly common"

No doubt.

But you don't ever tell someone to eat frozen dinners. That's like something horrible some movie mother-in-law would say. They're not even economical. It's just insulting. And awful.

And the whole tone of the post made me , and they need to have steam coming out of the ears of the mad face....and a clenched fist next to it.

8/19/2011 3:31:30 PM

I never made it to Fai Thai before it closed but my parents went there a couple times and said it was ok. Not authentic or anything. Not somewhere they would take out of town guests.

I don't really know anything about Thai food and apparently neither did the head chef (owner/head chef at Fins)

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 3:32 PM. Reason : f]

8/19/2011 3:31:47 PM

i liked fai thai, only went there twice but was sad to see it go

8/19/2011 3:32:53 PM

Just noticed this gem.

Quote :

"good food, good portions, and reasonably priced ... the diner"

Had to laugh.

8/19/2011 3:36:40 PM

Quote :

"I heard the coowner of Gravy (that is not Greg Hatem) is selling his share of the restaurant back to Hatem (just like Ed Mitchell did at The Pit)"

Bella Monica

I just had lunch at Ole Time BBQ. Two sandwiches, a side of beans, and a drink cost $11.57. Being anal about rounding numbers I tipped $3.43, thus turning my meal into one of the dreaded $15 LUNCHES. The pretentiousness was palpable.

8/19/2011 3:37:00 PM

Quote :

"also I think its hard to call out fai thai and sono...they're specialty cuisine restaurants which are hard to sustain especially in this area"

Seriously? What makes you think that? We have ethnic restaurants that have been open for decades in Raleigh. There's a reason these two places aren't making the cut and it's not because they are "specialty cuisine". Sono is because it sucks compared to the bajillion other sushi choices in the area. Fai Thai, my guess would be, because their prices were outrageous for the portion sizes. It's a shame because I liked their food for the most part, but charging $6 for two tiny skewers of pork is a bit absurd and apparently the rest of Raleigh agreed.

Quote :

"then lower the fucking rent.places charge what they do because of the cost of either buying and renovating many of these old buildings, or paying the rent in buildings when someone like Empire goes in and buys it up and renovated it."

This. If rents aren't more reasonable, you won't have more reasonable restaurants opening downtown. It would be nice to have more restaurants at lower price points downtown that also provide quality food, but until the rent situation gets better downtown that's unlikely to happen.

Quote :

" Two sandwiches, a side of beans, and a drink cost $11.57"

Only a fatty or Michael Phelps eats two sandwiches for lunch

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 3:39 PM. Reason : a]

8/19/2011 3:38:34 PM

I rarely go out to eat so when I do it better be high falootin. Going out on the town bitches.

8/19/2011 3:39:16 PM

My brother, cousin and I had a $45 lunch at Raleigh Times yesterday

And we had a $36 lunch today at MoJoes.

8/19/2011 3:41:48 PM

Quote :

"We went to Fai Thai, I wouldn't even called it Thai,"

Personally I found their dishes to be more inline with what I ate in Thailand than a lot of other places around here. Not all Thai is pad Thai or tom kha soup

Speaking of expensive lunches, I went to Panera for the first time in ages today and a goddamn salad and tea was over $10. I would have rather spent $10 on a salad and tea at Raleigh Times or Wilmoore Cafe and had a much, much better salad. I had no idea Panera was now charging that much for their subpar salads

8/19/2011 3:45:05 PM