A couple of months ago, I passed on a notion that the manager of the Samba Grilledowntown had: the lack of dining scene downtown might be due to the tunnel system. The idea is that the existence of restaurants in the tunnels has helped limit the number of restaurants street side. At least a fair number of those above ground would have to remain open in the evening. This would have created – or continued from the days of yore – a critical mass of restaurants, and downtown as a dining destination.
I had relayed this to a friend, who has a longer – and usually more astute – perspective of issues of the city’s development. He thought it might be correct. His brother, possibly even more astute, responded, not exactly in agreement:
“I think the reason for the scarcity of good restaurants downtown is attributable almost entirely to one fact: There are very few people downtown after normal work hours, and a good restaurant can't survive on Monday to Friday lunch alone. This has steadily improved a lot over the past ten to fifteen years with the opening of more upscale hotels (Alden, Hilton, Magnolia), and the increased number of lofts and condos. The result has been an increase in the number of good restaurants over that time period. But, the population density in the evening is still low (and certainly nothing approaching what you see inside the Loop in Chicago). As the nighttime downtown population grows, so will the number of good restaurants.”
He is right, of course. The biggest reason is this lack of people at night – and during a rainy weekend day like today – which mostly means a lack of residents. The dearth of people living downtown is due to factors like the lack of restaurants open in the evening and the scarcity of grocery options within walking distance. It is just not as convenient to live downtown as it is in other urban areas in other cities; regular use of a car is still necessity.
Byrd’s could not make it on Main, though the site has recently reopened as another grocer. The expansive Phoenicia, which opened in November near Discovery Green is an unconventional grocer, but it might prove to be a spur to further downtown colonization. And, maybe more dining destinations, even with the tunnels.
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