| Author | Message | ||
     mrosner Citizen Username: Mrosner Post Number: 1679 Registered: 4-2002 |
Hoboken has a lot of young couples without kids and singles, both segments tend to eat out more frequently than a family with school aged children. Hank: Well said, | ||
| Michael Janay Citizen Username: Childprotect Post Number: 1533 Registered: 1-2003  |
Don't you all realize that the reason that the restaurants are closing is because St. James Gate moved in and took their business. How dare they serve good food and great drink in a nice pub atmosphere. Don't they know they are hurting the other restaurants in town? Is that what this community wants? A place that people like to go to more than other, less good places? We should do something about this situation. Can't the TC pass an ordinance? | ||
| vor Citizen Username: Vor Post Number: 379 Registered: 9-2003 |
Mr. Buckley To answer your question re: which restaurants have closed...Carmalita's has indicated that they will close when they are able to find a buyer and rumor has it that CentAni has been sold so that Franco can join Giacomo at Lot 15 in SO. Beans I disagree that there are no restaurants in our town with better then mediocre food. Have you tried Jocelyns? American Fare is very good. Verjus is also good. Celebrated Food was very good as well. I always considered myself lucky to live in a town wiht such good restaurants | ||
| Me2 Citizen Username: Me2 Post Number: 96 Registered: 6-2003 |
I don't understand the Nail Salon phenomenon. How can such a small town support so many nail salons? Are the patrons coming from other towns? | ||
| Pippi Supporter Username: Pippi Post Number: 684 Registered: 8-2003  |
I love the fact that so many restuarants are BYO. It really keeps meal costs down because so many restaurants mark alcohol up tremendously. Why is BYO a problem for some of you? | ||
| Dave Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5162 Registered: 4-1998  |
How do you BYO a Guinness tap? | ||
| RBrunner Citizen Username: Rbrunner Post Number: 7 Registered: 5-2004 |
Or a bloody mary? Or a margarita? | ||
| algebra2 Supporter Username: Algebra2 Post Number: 2941 Registered: 5-2001  |
Pippi -- we do a BYO on weekends with no kid. During the week we usually go out to dinner one night and 99% of the time it's either the Pub or Toro Loco where we can drop in with our son and grab a quick bite and a drink. | ||
| Beans Citizen Username: Nalini Post Number: 45 Registered: 11-2004 |
Vor, Having lived in NY for most of my life, I've been surrounded by amazing food. I've never realized how lucky I was to have the wealth of food that I had. I just wish if our town had more of a variety of restaurants and cuisine. The food in town is quite boring after the third visit. | ||
| vor Citizen Username: Vor Post Number: 382 Registered: 9-2003 |
RBrunner There is a mexican restaurant in Montclair (I think it's called Mexicali Rose) that allows you to bring in your own tequilla to mix with their virgin margaritas | ||
| vor Citizen Username: Vor Post Number: 383 Registered: 9-2003 |
Beans I understand what you mean about variety coming from NYC, but those of us coming from suburbia (Morris County), Maplewood has more variety then 5 average suburban/rural towns put together (at least where I grew up). I guess it's a case of those who go from more to less are critical, and those who go from less to more think Nirvana | ||
| RBrunner Citizen Username: Rbrunner Post Number: 8 Registered: 5-2004 |
Maybe I should just carry a full bar around in the back of my car? Seems pretty absurd. I just find the whole lack of liquor in restaurants to be totally bizarre. I've never seen anything like it anywhere. It's not a big deal most of the time (I'd much rather spend $10 for a bottle of wine bought from a liquor store than $25 for the same bottle ordered in a restaurant, obviously), but it is sometimes annoying. At least Legal Seafood makes a top-notch bloody mary. I see what you mean about it depending on what you're comparing it to, but I do think there are better restaurants in surrounding towns (Millburn and Summit come to mind). Obviously Maplewood will never have the quality and diversity of food in NYC, but I still think there's a lot of room for improvement. | ||
| amandacat Citizen Username: Amandacat Post Number: 789 Registered: 8-2001  |
I love BYO too, Pippi, I just think it makes it all the harder for a restaurant to return a profit if it can't sell alcoholic beverages. | ||
| Beans Citizen Username: Nalini Post Number: 46 Registered: 11-2004 |
Vor, Now that you have enlightened me with what "suburbia" has to offer, I think I am lucky to live in Maplewood which has sort of a variety of restaurants.  | ||
| shh Citizen Username: Shh Post Number: 2129 Registered: 5-2001 |
I love BYO! If we plan ahead, we bring a bottle from home. If not, there are two liquor stores in town and we can buy a bottle of wine (or two  ) and/or get some beer. Whatever. It's easy and makes eating out and drinking a lot more reasonable. We'd always bring a white and a red to Celebrated so we can drink according to our food choices. We'll miss that place! | ||
| GSP142 Citizen Username: Gsp142 Post Number: 19 Registered: 5-2003 |
Just my opinion, but good food trumps all else. But there's also a quality/value consideration--is it good food for the price? If the food is just OK but overpriced, that won't lead to return business. Enough of us either used to live in NYC or work there (or still work/visit there), so I think we're a somewhat discerning group when it comes to our food. | ||
| AlleyGater Citizen Username: Alleygater Post Number: 52 Registered: 10-2004 |
I keep thinking the major concern is value. I always feel that the food isn't worth as much as I'm paying in the Village and in NJ in general. I mean, I'm happy to pay $15-$20 (and sometimes more) for an entree if the food is worth it, but I don't want to pay that much for an everyday meal. Yes, I'm comparing the food to NYC where I could get AMAZING food for under $10/entrees. But does the food really need to cost as much as it does in NJ for the restaurants to cover their expenses? Some restaurants don't charge that much (Tinga, Carribean Cuisine, Penang are just the first few that come to mind). Does anyone else think that a restaurant that offered cheaper food (but where the quality stayed high) would do well in the Village? Or do the locals just stay in-doors and cook for themselves when they want an inexpensive meal, and EXPECT to pay lots of cash when they eat out. One last thing that I touched on in my first post -- does anyone think that the location of the Village is bad cause it is frequented almost in it's entirety by only local Maplewood residents? Most other towns get intermittent cross traffic of people moving from one place to another. Not so for the Village, you have to be conciously heading there or you won't accidentally stumble past it. And if my assumption is true (that the village isn't a destination for people outside of our town) then maybe our citizens just don't use the Village enough for eating? | ||
| Bobkat Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 7504 Registered: 5-2001 |
Some factors: High rents - this equals high prices Slow weekdays - we live in a family area and people commute, usually getting home after 7:00pm. No corporate clientele - Few expense account lunches and even fewer expense account dinners. Pane Vino in East Hanover (mentioned in another thread) is near corporate offices and hotels. They do a decent dinner trade during the week. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 5372 Registered: 1-2003  |
It's a matter of perspective. If you compare SO/M with NYC, we're in hell. If you compare it with the rest of NJ and the US, we're in heaven. AlleyGater, Maplewood Village's location is a blessing and a curse. It doesn't get a lot of traffic, which makes business hard but keeps the character nice. I love the way the teenagers cruise on the sidewalks on warm Friday nights. Sure beats the mall. They are safe and in our sight. I think the high rents may indicate that traffic isn't really the problem. I can't believe parking is the problem, unless the PERCEPTION of a problem is self-fulfilling. Sorry, but I really think there is adequate parking in Maplewood Village. | ||
| Copperfield Citizen Username: Copperfield Post Number: 116 Registered: 1-2004 |
It's all about the Benjamins. Most restaurants make their money from liquor sales. And corporate customers And patrons of nearby cultural centers who come from other towns (e.g. Paper Mill Playhouse keeps many Millburn restaurants in business) And empty-nesters and/or couples without children who eat out on a more regular basis than families with young children. And sorry Tom, on a nice summer night, parking in Maplewood Village is as tough as finding on-street parking in Greenwich Village. |
