the l.a. business journal on downtown at night
This week’s Los Angeles Business Journal checks in on Downtown and how far we’ve come toward being an active 24-hour neighborhood.
A lofty goal of several mayoral administrations, it seems we’ve finally made some progress on the nighttime front. Several notable restaurant successes are Pete’s Cafe, J Restaurant, Blue Velvet, Ebisu, Full House, the Pantry, Zip Fusion, Colori Kitchen and Palm Restaurant. “Restaurant Row” is coming along with Wokcano to stay open until 2:00 a.m. and 7-Eleven now open, among other businesses that will debut in the coming months.
On the other hand, as many Downtowners know, our nightlife activation has come in fits and starts. For every restaurant keeping its doors open past 9:00 p.m., there’s another restaurateur that has decided weekend hours aren’t a viable option.
Their motivation may be warranted as other establishments aren’t performing so well. Downtown should have the population base to support all these business, but are residents leaving the area at night to visit more established neighborhoods like Silver Lake, Hollywood and Koreatown? Is everyone just eating at Pete’s?
I think the answer is a little more complicated than that, and I got a chance to discuss my thoughts with the article’s author, Drew Combs.
One restaurant I mentioned in my argument is Wood Spoon. The charming Brazilian cafe on 9th near Main rarely has a full house, even during peak dinner hours. The situation is baffling since the food has been consistently delicious, the owner is charming, the reviews are glowing and the prices can’t be beat. I believe the biggest problem is that people don’t know about small joints like Wood Spoon; marketing would make all the difference.
Also, its Fashion District locale doesn’t help. The neighborhood only has a few residential buildings, and the significant daytime worker presence vanishes after 6:00 p.m.
Once the nearby Union Lofts, Chapman Flats, Great Republic Lofts and National City Bank Lofts open, I expect to see new residents discovering Wood Spoon and its Italian neighbor, Cafe L’Angolo. The district is still developing, and restaurant owners need to think long-term when opening new venues on blocks without a large residential presence.
My suggestions to new Downtown restaurants: Try to lure Downtown’s daytime population for dinner after work; have a local marketing presence; and focus on a quality product at a reasonable price point. Word of mouth can only take you so far.
And whatever you do, keep lines of communication open with your customers. There’s nothing that will squander potential patrons faster than promising one thing and delivering another.
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9 comments
i don’t know that these establishments are appropriate barometers of the health of downtown’s nightlife - but the newly 24-hour iHop and Subway at the corner of 8th/Flower seem to be doing well late late nights. i live in the Gas Co Lofts and i’ve noticed iHop seems to never be empty now - especially on the weekends. with the 7-11, Mode, Ralphs, and the Pantry within walking distance, i’m feeling much better about be vampirish.
How is Wood Spoon doing saleswise? I hope the best for little distinctive unique spots like that because in the long run they may become neighborhood nucleuses. I hope that as much marketing or advertising can go into these places to keep them from going under. However i do believe 2008 will be a top calender year for Downtown LA.
The problem with Wood Spoon is that they don’t have a beer and wine license and you cannot bring in your own wine. I was at Colori Kitchen last night and all the tables were filled and they ran out of chairs. Almost all of the tables brought their own wine. An ethnic restaurant….where wine is part of the meal at dinner…is going to have a rough go without a beer and wine license.
I was Downtown on Saturday night @ around 8 PM, looking for dinner. I was pretty disappointed to find that Wood Spoon was closed.
So I wound up eating at Blossom (the Vietnamese place on Main/Winston). That place is reliably good. Blossom was doing lots of business, just like Pete’s, Banquette, the video store and the market.
But then again, Rocket Pizza was dead and Lost Souls was closed. So who knows.
The problem with places like Woodspoon is there is no parking. My friends and I have tried to go the fashion district restaurants so many times and usually wind up at Pete’s because parking in this area usually involves bribery of some kind.
Stella, interesting that you say that. At dinnertime there are never too many cars parked on 9th. Parking in the Old Bank District is a mess, which is why I mostly walk.
It’s much easier to walk around Downtown or take the subway than it is to find parking.
Stella…is there no street parking available? The last thing we need in downtown is more parking garages/lots, etc… We have too many parking garages in downtown, thus I cannot see how you “cannot find parking”. LA is unlike San Francisco, New York, where you REALLY cannot find parking (i.e. no street parking, parking garages full, etc…).
Also, don’t forget about Tiara Cafe, which opens for dinner in January, I think.
Tiara Cafe opens for dinner January 11th.
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