Tuesday, June 05, 2007

WTHR: 300 East A Flop

All the pre-opening controversy surrounding the 300 East restaurant/bar in the Julia Carson Government Center has not translated into business nearly 6 weeks after it first opened according to WTHR's Richard Essex. He reports the empty parking lot says it all. Manager Daniel Emerson tried to convince Essex the restaurant was doing well, but he wasn't buying it. I haven't been in the place since it opened. An avid AI reader, however, shared the restaurant's menu with me. I was taken aback by how high the prices were on food and drink items. I suspect the destination is less than appealing to folks who are looking for a more pricey, fine dining experience.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

We had a new BBQ restaurant open on N. Mich road about 1 month ago. It's parking lot is PACKED every night so far.

And they do very little advertising as far as I can tell.

Maybe it is the same age old problem - location, location, location and maybe price.

Anonymous said...

IF this place flops, the owners will have a hard time admitting it. Remember, Mr. Mays threw in the towel on the malcontent Savoymonths after it ebcame a bad neighbor, and, whilst doing so, complained that if area folk didn't want his investment, he'd take his toys and go elsewhere. As if the menu were the problem. Clueless.

That said, I don't root for businesses to fail. Ever. Businesses provide jobs, and folks depend on jobs. This place should never have opened, and wouldn't had it not been for an ignorant hearing officer. That's where the whole thing fell apart, and the owners know they had her in their pocket from the git-go.

If, however, this business does fail...it would be poetic justice.

And in advance: my Wilson Whine Shield (WSS) is up and fully operational.

Anonymous said...

"my Wilson Whine Shield (WSS) is up and fully operational."

Love it, where can I get mine.

Anonymous said...

I don't think there were many of us that thought this place was going to be a hit before they opened. I don't root for businesses to fail either, but in this case, they already had a few strikes against them. The location is horrible. And the signage, even now, is ineffective. The big "300" on the building makes it look like the building address. If you don't know there's a bar/restaurant/whatever there, nothing draws your attention.

Very few people in the food world even seem to know they're open, let alone what kind of food they serve at what prices. Have they done any advertising? Owners/investors in this particular project aside, it wasn't a smart idea.

Unknown said...

we are organizing a yuppie GOP night at 300 East. Trying to take it over on Tuesday nights. Come join!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the reason the Julia Carson Government Center restaurant is so 'dead' is because so many dead people voted for Julia in the past.

Wilson46201 said...

Yet even with the new draconian VoterID law the Congresslady was still re-elected handily.

If the restaurant were in any other building besides one named for the ever-popular U.S. Representative Julia Carson, there would have been no kerfuffle and brouhaha. Otherwise, why would her weak GOP opponent kick off his Federal Congressional campaign whining about a petty township zoning issue?

Anonymous said...

The only reason it was located in a government building in the first place, the township trustee didn't charge his cronies any rent for over six months while it was being renovated, and they don't have to pay any propery taxes to the township. I wonder if the back rent got paid after they opened?

Anonymous said...

"If the restaurant were in any other building besides one named for the ever-popular U.S. Representative Julia Carson, there would have been no kerfuffle and brouhaha"

I think the whole shady-business deal that went on during its inception may have raised eyebrows no matter where it was located. Just sayin'.

Anonymous said...

Wilson,

Have you eaten there yet ? If so can you give us a review ?

Anonymous said...

Puleeze, don't ask Wislon a direct question. He will answer it and my WSS has a few bugs on it. Its hard to see the whine coming until it splats.

Ignore Wilson.

Wilson46201 said...

Ignore anonymous nobodies who can do nothing more than to advocate ignorance. Let's discuss issues and politics, not let a few whiners hijack threads with personal vendettas and attacks while cowering behind the false face of "anonymous" ...

garyj said...

Only Wilson could draw the voter ID law into this. Just who was disenfranchised with that, Wilson?

Ever-popular??? Even Hitler is "Ever-popular". popularity is not always for a good reason.
I'll give Julia credit. She does try to help out certain people!
Maybe Wilson would be willing to meet there next Monday evening after the CCC meeting! I'm sure that Monroe Gray will be there in his city owned car! He was last week!

Are they being charged any rent yet? Probably not!
Wilson is too funny to ignore.

Anonymous said...

Well, Gary J, if you're a Center Township resident, file an FOI request for the lease. Mr. Drummer would have to produce it; it is a public document.

I'd do it but I don't live in Center.

That said, the chief complaint against this establishment was not its JCC location. It was, and is, the complete arrogance and disregard for procedure and civil rules the owners and landlord demonstrated.

Regarding the sign, the county's signage ordinance is strict, and I believe the sign is as large as it can legally be, without a variance.

Not that proper procedure stopped these fools from opening in the first place. They do have a hearing examiner in their back pocket.

(zzzzzzzzzzip) (WWS up)

garyj said...

You can still file it. I have filed several for different locations.
I just quit caring because Julia Carson WANTED this bar for "her people", Bart supports this bar, and the neighborhood is too scared to go against the machine, they knnow the end results could be damaging to them.

Anonymous said...

Law enforcement, get prepared!!!

Mays will start advertising to and accepting the old Savoy crowd...they are just waiting for the smoke to settle...watch...the lines will start soon....

Anonymous said...

Uh, Gary J., think again... I am quite certain, for a fact, the mayor was not thrilled with the way the process worked here.

There is extreme consternation about the unqualified hearing officer on the 25th floor. But when you're only one vote in the majority, and one of those votes is King Ro, who screams bloody murder at the very thought of his wife losing a job, well...you get the picture.

Rock, meet hard place.

Still he ought to have the stones to stand up. For sure, he'd lose some other votes out of strict retaliation. That's the way this crowd plays.

I have a strong sense their gig is up soon. And you can be assured the 25th floor will rejoice at that...and the constant whining for perks for the one-vote majority, from a select few, can be ignored.