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Food Carts in Clintonville

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Started 1 year ago by mazzyD
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mazzyD

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With the growing number and variety of Food Carts in Columbus, some of them are finding their way to Clintonville.

The chairman of the Clintonville Area Commission spoke to the papers this week to say he is concerned about the effect that food carts may have on the neighborhood.

Mobile eateries concern CAC chairman
http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2011/06/15/mobile-eateries-concern-cac-chairman.html?sid=104

"They can drain hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars of the available food market," DeFourny said. "These are low-rent coming and competing with the high-rent, higher-employee, fixed-building, and that's one of the concerns."

Rad Dog and Ray-Ray's Hog Pit are some of the better known carts in Clintonville. What other carts are already in the neighborhood? What would you like to see come to the neighborhood?

Should Clintonville encourage more food carts or is the CAC on the path to limiting/banning food carts?

Posted 1 year ago #
RBloodworth
Baja Beechwold
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*facepalm*

The food trucks that have sprouted up in the past year are the most exciting dining development that Clintonville has had in ages, so- of course- the CAC wants to get rid of them. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Posted 1 year ago #
joev
Merion Village
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Clintonville: Home of the most conservative hippies in the world

Posted 1 year ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown / Gay Street
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I have to wonder how many of the customers at these food carts/trucks are coming from outside of the neighborhood? A lot of them have followings and fan bases that extend beyond the borders of Clintonville.

So are the food carts/trucks really diverting dollars from their neighboring restaurants, or are they bringing in new dollars from outside the neighborhood?

Follow up question: Does it really matter?

Posted 1 year ago #
cbus11

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Jeez Louise, of course they want to squash the best thing that has come along in years.

Posted 1 year ago #
meltsintowonder

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As far as food is concerned, Ray Ray's is what typically takes me to Clintonville, which means I'm more likely to spend other dollars in the area while I'm there. And we're never thinking "Sage or Ray Ray's tonight for dinner?" I know the circumstances can be different in other areas, but there aren't as many options in Clintonville.

Posted 1 year ago #
Mr. Wiggles

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The South Clintonville dining options are pretty slim. What do we have Dairy Queen? Glad Yankee Cajun opened up at the Crest. I hope DQ doesn't go under.

Posted 1 year ago #
bababoohi

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As a resident of CV, I don't mind the food trucks b/c it's mostly good food. I hit Ray-Ray's probably once a month. Plus, for as many people as there are in Cville there is a shortage of resaurants.
However, I can understand what he's saying. The existing restaurants have made an investment in the community they serve. Resautrants are a part of a community while the food trucks come in a few days a week then go somewhere else. Also, any of them could pull out of Cville tomorrow and never come back. The CAC doesn't have that concern about B&M restaurants.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the trucks, if you have a better mousetrap...But I can understand the CAC concern.
The problem with Cville's dining "scene" is still the limits on alcohol, not the food trucks.

Posted 1 year ago #
10sun
Columbus, OH
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Just because someone follows a business model that limits flexibility does not mean that they need to be protected.

Posted 1 year ago #
Snarf
Dystopia
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10sun wrote >>
Just because someone follows a business model that limits flexibility does not mean that they need to be protected.

yes!

Posted 1 year ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown / Gay Street
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The flexibility and low overhead is an advantage of the food carts / trucks.

But as Jon Myers said in a similar discussion about the SNBA/FoodCarts, the brick and mortar restaurants have (or can have) better seats and tables, HVAC systems, bathrooms, patios, beer, wine, liquor, table service, cloth napkins and table cloths, and so on and so forth.

They're two completely different business models, each with advantages. It's easy to point at a busy food card on a warm summer day and complain about how they're stealing customers, but where are people going to go out to eat in December? Where are they going to go when they have small children and need high chairs? Where are they going to go when they're on a nice date?

People don't eat from food carts 24/7. There's room enough for everyone.

Posted 1 year ago #
meltsintowonder

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Walker wrote >>
The flexibility and low overhead is an advantage of the food carts / trucks.
But as Jon Myers said in a similar discussion about the SNBA/FoodCarts, the brick and mortar restaurants have (or can have) better seats and tables, HVAC systems, bathrooms, patios, beer, wine, liquor, table service, cloth napkins and table cloths, and so on and so forth.
They're two completely different business models, each with advantages. It's easy to point at a busy food card on a warm summer day and complain about how they're stealing customers, but where are people going to go out to eat in December? Where are they going to go when they have small children and need high chairs? Where are they going to go when they're on a nice date?
People don't eat from food carts 24/7. There's room enough for everyone.

Exactly. And the more options you have, the more people will come. As someone mentioned, the area's biggest issues are lack of liquor permitting and number of restaurants, so people in Clintonville have to go elsewhere. And competition is good for the consumer and the businesses in the end. It makes the businesses better or they can't compete and exist.

Posted 1 year ago #
cc

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I think Walker nailed it on the head.

Posted 1 year ago #
bob.os
Columbus *not* Cbus
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bababoohi wrote >>
The problem with Cville's dining "scene" is still the limits on alcohol, not the food trucks.

How do you figure? There are three sites which were granted liquor permits quite a while back that are sitting empty. Northstar opened up recently on what was a long vacant lot that sat for years with a beer (and I think wine) license.

Honestly, I think that most of Clintonville people just aren't go-out-to-eat people.

And +1 on Walker's take.

Posted 1 year ago #
zp945
Clintonville/Short North
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bob.os wrote >>

bababoohi wrote >>
The problem with Cville's dining "scene" is still the limits on alcohol, not the food trucks.

How do you figure? There are three sites which were granted liquor permits quite a while back that are sitting empty. Northstar opened up recently on what was a long vacant lot that sat for years with a beer (and I think wine) license.
Honestly, I think that most of Clintonville people just aren't go-out-to-eat people.
And +1 on Walker's take.

Where are these three sites? I assume you mean 4041 N High and the development at Henderson and High. If so these are good potential sites but they definitely have some drawbacks when you look a little closer. If those aren't the location you're talking about, I'd be interested to know where has been approved.

Posted 1 year ago #
bob.os
Columbus *not* Cbus
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zp945 wrote >>

bob.os wrote >>

bababoohi wrote >>
The problem with Cville's dining "scene" is still the limits on alcohol, not the food trucks.

How do you figure? There are three sites which were granted liquor permits quite a while back that are sitting empty. Northstar opened up recently on what was a long vacant lot that sat for years with a beer (and I think wine) license.
Honestly, I think that most of Clintonville people just aren't go-out-to-eat people.
And +1 on Walker's take.

Where are these three sites? I assume you mean 4041 N High and the development at Henderson and High. If so these are good potential sites but they definitely have some drawbacks when you look a little closer. If those aren't the location you're talking about, I'd be interested to know where has been approved.

Yep.

Those and the third one (across from Northstar?) were all on the ballot on the same time, with the promise of developers ready to occupy the spots.

Posted 1 year ago #
drew

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I'm baffled. I've always believed that Cville punches way below its weight class with respect to the quality and quantity of dining opportunities... so I simply can't fathom how anyone could be so short sighted as to suggest that the area should get rid of the lion's share of its worthwhile food experiences.

For what it's worth, I drive to Clintonville to get Ray Ray's, Yerba Buena, Pattycake... and that's it. Aside from them, I can't think of a single food offering in Clintonville that doesn't have a (usually much) better and closer alternative elsewhere. Increasingly, the same can be said for non-food related items as well.

When I lived in California, there was a popular bumper sticker that said, "Welcome to California. Now leave!". I'm kinda getting the same vibe from Clintonville, and I gotta say - I'm increasingly happy to comply.

Posted 1 year ago #
feedthebeast

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DeFourny doesn't represent the interest of Clintonville well.. neither does the CAC.

Posted 1 year ago #
drew

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feedthebeast wrote >>
DeFourny doesn't represent the interest of Clintonville well.. neither does the CAC.

By and large I do believe you, but it'd be nice if the news coming out of Clintonville reflected that.

Instead, here's what the news tells me - Clintonville doesn't want to serve me alcohol, doesn't want to make it easy for me to drive there, and doesn't want to provide the kind of food options that are being embraced almost everywhere else. In short, the news says - Clintonville doesn't want me.

It gives me no pleasure to say that, but I think it's an entirely worthwhile point that should be heard. There are consequences to the flavor of political assfoolery that Clintonville seems to specialize in, and I suspect that they could amount to a loss of revenue for their businesses that would far far exceed any imaginary problems caused by a few food trucks.

Posted 1 year ago #
cbus11

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I could be wrong, but I have always thought that Clintonville has a secret fear of becoming like North Campus and that some of their policies are meant to try and keep it a quieter residential area as percieved 'outsider' tentacles continue to expand. In my mind there is a large 'keeping the status quo' mentality.

Posted 1 year ago #