Well the sign shows promise of fun.But wait! High noon and this is the parking lot.
What's going on? Aha, the rumor is true as this sign on the front of the building points out. (Sorry about the blurriness. Photographer failure)
The word is the restaurant had been for sale for a couple of years but so far no buyers have surfaced so the doors have been locked.
Well, moving into downtown in the heart of the restaurant and bar area, we found another place shuttered.
We heard the same story on this place. Been for sale for a couple of years but no one is interested. Looks like the luck of the shamrocks didn't help. 
And finally, here's one that's been closed for quite awhile. Last time around it was called N'awlins. Before that it was Zuma's. And who knows what before that. It's a nice building with a roomy interior and only half a block from the center of town but apparently no one wants it either.
Could be the recession but I don't know. My town has recently opened two new hotels and at least one new restaurant. Maybe "Everybody's Home Town" has lost it's charm.
The Pine Cone Inn lost their appeal a LONG time ago. It subsisted on the geriatric crowd for a long time, but apparently finally gave up the ghost. I am not sorry to hear it. :) And talk about an out-of-the-way location!
ReplyDeletePersonally I'm pretty happy to see a lot of for sale signs in town. It means the influx of people is ebbing.
And I certainly hope you aren't calling the Cracker Barrel a new restaurant.... :-P
Hey I'd forgot about the Cracker Barrel. We went there once. Not good. No I was thinking about a place on Robert Road close to 69. I think it's more of a coffee house but they're trying.
ReplyDeleteNo sales tax state here. So we are very retail/restaurant dependent. Have been watching long standing, well run, well known places tanking out fast. I really don't know of a shopping center that does not have stores shutting down. Really freaking right before the holidays, tons of "going out of business sales" everywhere. Big chains and private small ones. Creepy as hell. Never seen it this bad.
ReplyDeleteI agree on Cracker Barrel, not good is being nice.
ReplyDeleteThose Coffee shop trying to be cafe type places seem to be springing more and more. I've yet to see one make it work in our area.
Mal - Same way in Phoenix. We were down there recently and I was amazed at all the places closing.
ReplyDeleteTombo - What's a matter? Don't you like fried food? :->
I haven't visited the new coffee joint in our town yet.
It seems hard times must be hard, if even the liquor license is not taken! People tend to drink & gamble, no matter how bad things get- sadly.
ReplyDeleteI think the guy was so hard up he couldn't even afford to renew the license so just gave it to his landlord and split.
ReplyDeleteunlike tombo, I am sorry to see the Pine Cone Inn shuttered. After all, it is practically an historic place. I recall that when I was a wee tad, I knew we were finally arriving in Prescott (via US 89) when I saw the Pine Cone Inn. We never ate there, but it was an important symbol.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that, GJ, but I'm afraid the Pine Cone management had not changed their style and menu for years, if not decades, and it became a place for an ageing clientele, which . . unfortunately . . is not ready to support increasing restaurant bills.
ReplyDeleteRestaurant closings are happening in the Valley too, my sister went to an El Paso Restaurant and there was a notice on the door announcing that because of nonpayment of rent the restaurant's doors were locked until further notice. What I've noticed is that restaurants that used to be open for lunch aren't opening until dinner time. I know for sure we stopped eating out, I can prepare a week's worth of meals on what it costs to eat out once at a steak house.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and we are a small state surrounded by three larger states that all have high sales taxes so they all border jump to shop. So if we cannot survive here with that advantage, I really feel bad for other places. Happy as I am about the new administration, nothing is going to change the fact that this year is really gonna suck financially.
ReplyDeleteAZ - Yes, we noticed a long established Bennigan's on the Metrocenter perimeter was closed the last time we were down.
ReplyDeleteM.I. - Even Las Vegas if feeling the pinch and lowering prices. Yay!
The bar business has been getting it from all sides over the last 25 years. Liability insurance because of drunk driving arrests has driven many bars out of business. In some states (Ohio) anti-smoking laws voted in by people who never go to bars (smoking or not) have driven most bars out of business. Now some states are lowering the BAC levels to the point where even one beer means that the driver is legally impaired. When you add the current economic crash to all of that, it's not surprising that so many bars are going under.
ReplyDeleteI guess if you can't meet the bar, better close your bar, huh?
ReplyDelete