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Old 11-06-2012, 07:48 PM
 
Location: Wicker Park, Chicago
4,789 posts, read 14,741,459 times
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Culver's, Red Robin, Golden Corral, and Steak N Shake - all nice restaurants, yet none are in the city! Why do they not setup restaurants in the city? I hate that I have to drive to the suburbs just to eat at these places!

Any other nice restaurants not in the city but in the suburbs?

Joe's Crab Shack closed down their only city location maybe in 2009?
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Old 11-06-2012, 07:53 PM
 
1,251 posts, read 2,512,939 times
Reputation: 896
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
Any other nice restaurants not in the city but in the suburbs?
-Up, Up and Buffet!
-Prof. VJ Cornicopia’s Fantastic Foodmagorium & Great American Steakery
-Griddler on the Roof
-The Texas Cheesecake Depository
-General Chang’s Taco Italiano
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Old 11-06-2012, 08:00 PM
 
2,918 posts, read 4,205,839 times
Reputation: 1527
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
Culver's, Red Robin, Golden Corral, and Steak N Shake - all nice restaurants,
O RLY?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
Why do they not setup restaurants in the city?
Gee, I dunno, maybe because there are much much better restaurants in the city, and they can't compete?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
I hate that I have to drive to the suburbs just to eat at these places!

I'm curious...and this is an honest question...why do you choose to live in Wicker Park rather than the suburbs?

Last edited by ChiNaan; 11-06-2012 at 08:30 PM..
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Old 11-06-2012, 08:11 PM
 
Location: West Loop, Chicago, IL
240 posts, read 464,706 times
Reputation: 272
I think the major thing is their strategy. Mostly demographics, rent, and competition play into their decision. Restaurants like the one you stated above rely heavily on families and therefore copious parking. Parking is at a premium in the City, and they can open a suburban location for a fraction of what they'd pay in Chicago.

Never say never though. Typically suburban mainstays such as Chick-Fil-A and Wal-Mart have opened locations in/near the Loop. So it's possible that some of your favorites could open up in the inner-city sometime down the road.
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Old 11-06-2012, 08:12 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,745 posts, read 5,568,941 times
Reputation: 6009
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
Culver's, Red Robin, Golden Corral, and Steak N Shake - all nice restaurants, yet none are in the city! Why do they not setup restaurants in the city? I hate that I have to drive to the suburbs just to eat at these places!

Any other nice restaurants not in the city but in the suburbs?

Joe's Crab Shack closed down their only city location maybe in 2009?
Those are all crappy, fast-food restaurants. Why would you eat at any of those places if you live in the city? That would be like ordering a pizza from Pizza Hut. It just doesn't make any sense.
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Old 11-06-2012, 08:33 PM
 
1,251 posts, read 2,512,939 times
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If I remember correctly, I think Drover once mentioned how there are no inner-city Culver's anywhere save for 1 in Milwaukee. Something about not their target demographic or fitting for their image or something to that effect.
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Old 11-06-2012, 09:33 PM
 
16,393 posts, read 30,264,727 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
Culver's, Red Robin, Golden Corral, and Steak N Shake - all nice restaurants, yet none are in the city! Why do they not setup restaurants in the city? I hate that I have to drive to the suburbs just to eat at these places!
Probably, they find it a PITA to operate a business in the City of Chicago. If you look at Culvers, you will see that they have lined up their stores immediately outside the city limits.
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Old 11-06-2012, 10:00 PM
 
Location: zamunda
63 posts, read 81,847 times
Reputation: 57
guys, let's try and keep things in the right spirit.
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Old 11-06-2012, 10:20 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,339,930 times
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The "market space" that the firms mentioned by the OP are considered "value priced" in the industry and inside Chicago and MOST mature suburbs there are generations of guys named "Nick", "Pete" or "Spiros" that have a pretty solid lock on that category. There is a sorta "Greek pipeline" of associated businesses that supply tables, chairs, napkins, plates, ovens, refrigerators, and every kind of food / beverage to friends of friends on terms that even the best logistics wizards of "national" chains can't really beat because so many of the long term family businesses don't pay high wages / salaries. Instead the keep a lot of the "profits" locked up in their businesses and do an awful lot to help relatives expand their overall business base.
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Old 11-06-2012, 10:56 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,907,803 times
Reputation: 7419
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
Culver's, Red Robin, Golden Corral, and Steak N Shake - all nice restaurants
Um, really? LOL... man you need to get out more if you think those places are nice restaurants. Honestly. Red Robin is probably the best of those and that's not saying a ton. Try and compete with the power house Chicago restaurants. You can't. Not even close. They don't belong in inner city Chicago. They belong in suburban Chicago or the suburbs of Chicago.

There's a reason why not a lot of huge chains exist here...just a few. The chains that do are small and are usually more expensive than a Culver's.

If you honestly do not understand why Culver's or Golden Corral can't compete in Chicago and why they aren't here, then you do not understand the restaurant business and scene in a large food city like Chicago. I'm sure they could afford the rent, staffing, etc to be down here but it would be an utterly stupid business move.
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