Yeah Im quite sure all the workers arent feeling bad either ...
Granite City Files for bankruptcy
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Agreed.
If spouse and I are headed out for an evening, we're going to a local place, and there are a lot of options.
Black Sheep, Cobble Hill, Tomaso's, Zoey's, Zeppelin's, Daisy's Garage, etc.
Granite City beer isn't that good, and I'll go to Lion's Bridge every day of the week on beer alone (and their menu is quite good).
Granite City has come a long way with their beer the last few years. I think the problem is they were too late to the game and Granite City isn’t seen as a place to go drink craft beer. Of course, the food being average doesn’t help.
They also use to serve food late in Cedar Rapids which can be a benefit, but I think 11 PM is the cutoff on the weekends now and it might only be 9 PM during the week.
They also use to serve food late in Cedar Rapids which can be a benefit, but I think 11 PM is the cutoff on the weekends now and it might only be 9 PM during the week.
Got dragged into one here by suburb friends in Maple Grove last winter. Of course out in that suburb it's just chains and mo' chains. It was not memorably horrible but not good either. Could not think of a reason to go back.
They used to have a decent lunch menu - smaller portions, lower prices, and could get people in and out quickly. However, last time we tried to do a lunch there they only had the full menu with the full prices. Haven't been back since.
4 years ago, partially as a byproduct of Paul Trostel's death in 2011. It was managed by some others for awhile at the end.
We have an old gift card to there but never went. If I'm driving to DSM why would I eat somewhere with prepackaged food and bland decor? Like someone as said, we like fast casual or fancy. With young kids those middle-type places are tough to choose.
Hey @capitalcityguy , would you agree zoning regulations in the suburbs basically force everything to be a chain restaurant?
Hey @capitalcityguy , would you agree zoning regulations in the suburbs basically force everything to be a chain restaurant?
Loved their food when I was at ISU. that was a fancy place for a date when we were in college. I ALWAYS got a paper cut from the table cloth though.
The thing about places like Applebees, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Granite City is they aren't even cheap. I can get wayyyy better food at local places for similar prices. And there are usually good happy hours at the local places that I can get stuff cheaper.
The back of house and front of house minions are usually talented enough to get another similar job elsewhere at the drop of a hat, so it doesn't make me terribly concerned for those folks although it still sucks to have to go somewhere new, learn their systems etc.
The management that has worked their way into the position (at GC that was pretty common) that just get dropped is a pretty raw deal.
https://madison.com/wsj/entertainme...cle_ccf60fd6-5fe2-5bd2-a743-728783359d79.html
I’m from that area and I agree. I don’t know if it’s that specific area or just a rural community thing. All my parents ever go to are chains. Olive Garden and Texas Roadhouse in Dubuque are slammed every night. Texas Roadhouse will have over an hour wait. It boggles my mind that people would wait that long for mediocre food. Though, not to generalize, but the majority of people in that area likely do not have terribly discerning palates.
I can’t be too harsh though, because I was the same way until I left for college and broadened my horizons thanks to my wife.
CR is definitely a chain city. My old job used to go to Granite City for take out lunch religiously until we finally made them check out some other better local spots. By the time I left that job a year ago GC had fallen completely out of the lunch rotation in favor of Emil's Hideaway, QDogs, Oyama, Tomaso's, Mi Tierra ETC.
In full agreement here. The wife and I ate there Friday night. I ordered a burger, which they didn't even ask me how I wanted it cooked. I prefer medium, but it came back fully dead. I had to douse it with ranch to make it bearable.
They let you bring in food from other restaurants?
Hummmm…..I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that argument made, so I’m not sure.
To be honest, I just think it is more of a product of chain restaurants requiring certain traffic counts/visibility standards and thus the built environment within a suburb tends to lend itself well to meet their requirements. They also play it safe with going with safer bets – newer buildings, good demographics, plenty of easy parking, etc.
More squishy argument – people that tend to be a bit more adventurous in dining, aren’t looking to eat somewhere in a strip mall or in a stand alone building surrounded by a sea of parking. They’d prefer something unique, local, and maybe located within a historic district within walking distance of other amenities. People that are more conservative (not necessarily meaning politically) tend to locate in suburbia. People with kids tend to want to eat at places that are less adventurous so they are sure the kids will find something the like. People with kids tend to locate in the suburbs.
I think it is a product of reality. I run into a lot of people that will basically only eat at tried and true chain restaurants…. and guess what? They aren’t living in a loft in downtown or a remodeled Victorian house in a traditional neighborhood in Des Moines proper. They are living in a newer beige house in a subdivision in a suburb on a cul de sac. That isn’t a judgement or a 100% predictor, but I think it is lines up with the type of dining options they find nearest to their home.
I spent a fair amount of time in the western suburbs of Chicago for work a few years ago, which was shopping center chain restaurant hell. I was told the reasons were twofold: lenders require established anchor restaurants, and the rents were so high that only chains could afford them.
I think this is kind of what @mtowncyclone13 is mentioning. Most suburbs don't have a downtown area (for reference, lets use Main Street Ames). To me, a lot of suburbs exist because developers came, bought land, and began building houses there. Then came the big box amenities such as grocery stores, retail stores, chain restaurants, etc. focused on a main road through said new suburb. These new suburbs don't really have the old town Main Street Ames area, and as a result of that, those locally owned restaurants don't exist because the new suburb never created zoning for it.
In Kansas City, the city of Lenexa, KS fits what I described. It is predominantly a bunch of houses along with retail stores to go with it. However, they have the foresight to notice that they needed a city center and began zoning and developing that area. IT's still in process, but as mtowncyclone13 mentioned, the city began planning for a city center similar to Main Street Ames, as opposed for zoning for large box retail and chain restaurants (those still exist elsewhere in the city though).
