43
Eateries energize hub
Caf s, bars multiply in the downtown
YOUNGSTOWN — It was only a few years ago that getting a decent cup of coffee in the city’s downtown was a quest.
The choices for a nice lunch or even a quick bite to eat were few, and good luck finding a suburbanite driving downtown for dinner.
There have been some struggles and setbacks, particularly at some of the older establishments, but the number of restaurants and bars downtown has been growing in recent years.
Recipe for growth
The reasons are many, according to restaurant owners, patrons and city officials:
U Downtown, particularly the western end of West Federal Street, is enjoying an economic renaissance with young professionals working at high-tech facilities. Those who aren’t brown-baggers are looking for places to eat lunch and possibly stick around after work for dinner and/or cocktails.
U Safety, or at least the perception that downtown is more safe than it was.
U Several of the restaurants and bars have live music and other forms of entertainment.
U Events at the Chevrolet Centre bring more people downtown. That’s a mixed bag with some eating before or after a show and others coming to the facility solely for the event.
U Some patrons prefer the cuisine at independently owned restaurants compared to the big chains in the suburbs. Those same people don’t have to deal with traffic on some of the Mahoning Valley’s most congested streets such as U.S. Route 224, Mahoning Avenue and Market Street.
Jacob Harver noticed the trend and is in the process of opening the Lemon Grove Caf and Lounge at 122 W. Federal St. The Lemon Grove, set to open in about two months, will be similar to a European caf with coffee, alcohol, soups and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, he said. It will stay open until 4 a.m.
“Look at the line at Taco Bell [near Youngstown State University] after the bars close” at 2 a.m., Harver said. “People are looking for food.”
The Lemon Grove will feature live acoustic music, poetry readings and even knitting sessions, Harver said.
“I wouldn’t want to do this anywhere else but downtown Youngstown,” he said. “We’re in line for a great renaissance. Youngstown always had a great amount of potential. We’re no longer stuck in an industrial depression.”
Chuck Sop, co-owner of the Rosetta Stone Caf , two doors east of the Lemon Grove site, opened his restaurant in January.
“We’re a little ahead” of the curve, he said. “The city will experience growth in the next 1 to 11‚Ñ2 years, and we’ll already be established. Once you come to downtown, you realize how great it is.”
The restaurant offers live entertainment five nights a week and is looking to add a sixth day. Rosetta Stone also offers outdoor dining in front of its restaurant and is considering other ideas such as valet parking and a rooftop dining and catering area.
Like most downtown restaurants, Rosetta Stone’s lunch clientele is made up of those who work nearby.
The dinner crowd is a mix of those who eat after work and those who drive from the surrounding areas, Sop said.
Attitude adjustment on downtown
Eating lunch at Caf Cimmento on East Boardman Street, Andrea Pavlichich, 18, and Joseph Koch, 19, both of Austintown, said they would have never considered dining downtown years ago.
“I used to go to [downtown] with my dad to see ‘Sesame Street’ back when I was a kid,” Koch said. “I’d have to hold his hand. [Downtown] wasn’t a very good place to be. Now it’s a booming place, and I’m happy to be here.”
Koch came downtown for lunch at the invitation of Pavlichich, who works there.
“The food is delicious and there are a lot of restaurants,” she said.
George Mager, Cimmento’s owner, said he opened his restaurant almost three years ago after reading in The Vindicator that there wasn’t any place to eat near the Chevrolet Centre. Cimmento’s is the closest restaurant to the entertainment and sports facility.
“I thought I’d have to depend on the Chevrolet Centre, but I’ve been surviving without the [center] doing real well,” he said. “My clientele likes to come downtown. They feel safe. It’s as safe as anywhere.”
In recent months, the restaurant expanded — adding almost 100 seats, including 18 in a private room.
“People told me, ‘You’re crazy to open in Youngstown,’” Mager said. “I have no regrets. It would be more expensive to do it in Boardman or Austintown, and we’ve done well here.”
But the influx of new establishments is impacting some of the older ones.
Casualties of new development
For example, Cedars Lounge and Restaurant on North Hazel Street closed its restaurant a few months ago. It is expected to open shortly as a coffee house and serve sandwiches.
The Old Precinct on North Phelps Street discontinued serving lunch and is now a catering business.
The Core in the Wick Building on West Federal Street closed a few months ago. A sign on the door said it’s closed because of air conditioning problems and “other maintenance” work.
The building is owned by the Frangos Group. Bill Sperlazza, the group’s regional development project manager, said he was “not at liberty” to discuss the closing of the Core.
The dinner business is struggling at Buffalo Wild Wings on East Federal Street, but not because of competition, according to Alan Drennen, the restaurant’s regional manager.
Windows at the Stambaugh Building, where the restaurant is located, crashed to the ground almost two months ago. When one fell near a city official June 5, the pedestrian walkway near the restaurant was closed, adversely impacting business. The barriers should be removed shortly.
Also, Anthony’s On The River, a high-end restaurant on Oak Hill Avenue, has seen a downturn in business.
But most of the problem is caused by the closing almost a year ago of the Spring Common Bridge, the main link that connects the city’s West Side and Austintown to downtown.
“It’s been pretty devastating,” said Anthony Saadey, the restaurant’s owner. “We cut hours. We had to. No one drives down the street.”
Anthony’s is located between the bridge and the detour making vehicular traffic almost nonexistent. The bridge won’t open until later in the year.
Business was steady until the bridge closing, he said.
Saadey said the restaurant is open for private parties while the bridge is repaired.
He also cautioned those who are looking at opening a restaurant in the downtown area.
“The more restaurants you have, the less business you do,” Saadey said. “There’s more places than the population can support.”
Successes spark more interest
Overall, the success of downtown restaurants and bars has created more interest from others looking to open there, said Phil Kidd, the city’s downtown director of special events and special projects, who works closely with the restaurants and bars.
A project to extend Hazel Street to provide another link between downtown and Youngstown State University should prove to be beneficial, Kidd said.
Also important is the development of residential housing in downtown, he said. The more people who live downtown, the more business restaurants and bars in the area will do, he said.
Restaurants attract more families
“Success breeds success,” Mayor Jay Williams said. “The restaurants that come downtown are generally doing well and that inspires and gives confidence to others to open. Several thousand workers downtown have now found a way to extend the day by eating downtown. Also, some families of those who work downtown come out to eat.”
Among those families are the DeVitos of Beaver Township. Tina DeVito works at the Children’s Museum of the Valley. Her husband, Richard, and two sons, Deven, 7, and Vincent, 5, come downtown for lunch on a regular basis.
“It’s nice that there’s starting to be more choices” to eat, she said. “I remember coming for jury duty a few years ago and there was nowhere to eat. Things are changing. Things are happening.”
The downtown dining experience has led to the openings of restaurants at the food court at the city-owned 20 Federal Place, the former Phar-Mor headquarters on West Federal Street.
There are six places to eat at the food court that as recently as two years ago was essentially empty. Also, Magic Mocha, a coffee and pastry business, is expected to open at the food court in the next two months.
“I’ve got a lot more choices for lunch,” said George Hulton of Campbell, who works downtown. “I’ve seen the growth, and it’s a good thing.”
skolnick@vindy.com