I noticed Kabuki, a Japanese place going in at the old Pepperoni Grill site at the SE corner of 33rd and Broadway:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2838462908_ed148b01be.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/2837629717_2d0a17fd2e.jpg?v=0

Hopefully it doesn't have the same fate as everything else that has been on that corner...its cursed I tell ya!

I think it may be different with the new lifestyle centers on both the NW and NE corners of that intersection may inject new life in the area.

I think it may be different with the new lifestyle centers on both the NW and NE corners of that intersection may inject new life in the area.

Possibly...historically that whole 1/2 mile or so of Broadway Extension has been a good place to open a restaurant ...if you wanted to close it within a year or two.

Seems like a great location. I wonder why nothing can stay open there?

Same with the place where the Marie Calandar's was. That mexican resteraunt didn't last more that a few months!

And how did Shorty Small's close?? Wow, I was shocked!

How many of the open today, closed tomorrow (or a few weeks later) places were set into motion by folks who knew what they were getting into?

I've met many over the years who seem to think if you open the doors, a foodie house or pub canl take care of itself $$ wise after a week or three and then it's cha-ching time baby forevermore.

Reality is quite different. My best guess is folks not properly prepared to ride out a full year are the ones who most frequently fold during the first quarter.

Not to mention that Bolton's had also folded and closed its doors down the street. It was the 3rd restaurant in its building, and obviously it could not compete with Applebees and Chilis up the street.

I knew someone that asked Ted of Ted's Escondido when he was going to open an Edmond location (years ago before he did) and Ted told him it would be awhile because something like 50% of the new restaurants in Edmond (which at that time were on Broadway between memorial and 33rd) had closed in the first year or something - crazy numbers. You would think that is a good location but I tend to wonder that if people bother going over to broadway extension (which isn't really close to the population of edmond) they may as well run to bricktown - thats kind of my line of thinking.

Don't think 33rd and Broadway still draws traffic? See the list and link below.

The Kabuki location was a successful Cocina de Mino for years (perhaps 10?) before they were forced out of the location when their lease expired. Pepperoni Grill was likewise successful there for another 10 years (my recollection) before Portabello's bought them out. I think Eateries was scaling back so, good deal for them before they had to put more money into remodeling, etc. Portabello's - I'm assuming - suffered from lack of name recognition and advertising support. There price point was higher than Pepperoni Grill - that would appear to have been a large factor in their demise. Edmond is a good restaurant market where you can build a long term clientele (Interrurban and Othello's, among others) but it also like to sample something new. If there is no value, service is poor, food is marginal or ambience is non-existant, people move on quickly. For all of the blather about how much trouble it is getting in and out of these Broadway locations south of 33rd, and how that has contributed to so many failures, explain the continued success of Chili's and Outback. You nearly kill yourself making a turn in from the opposite direction and these two places have been packing them in for years. Most of the places that failed were not good fits in terms of the demographics and/or were started by people who were inexperienced and/or had a poor business plan and/or offered little value or minimal differentiation from competitors. If you don't have the resources to build business over a two year cycle, there is little point in opening a restaurant - in Edmond or anywhere else.


Edmond's Busiest Intersections By Traffic Count
Link: Traffic Counts | City of Edmond, Oklahoma (http://edmondok.com/communitydev/engineering/trafficcounts)

Intersection 2007
33rd and Broadway 70,968
15th and Broadway 60,586
2nd and Bryant 50,606
2nd and Broadway 49,659
2nd and Boulevard 48,006
15th and Kelly 43,448
Danforth and Kelly 38,802
2nd and University 37,573
2nd and WalMart/Target 36,032
2nd and Bauman 35,126
2nd and Garland Godfrey 34,827
2nd and Littler 29,364
Danforth and Thomas 27,401
Danforth and Broadway 26,603
Danforth and Chowning 26,518
Danforth and Fretz 26,403
Danforth and Sherry 22,212
Kelly and 7th 21,945
Kelly and Robin Hill 21,465
Danforth and Blackwelder 21,232
Covell and Kelly 20,749
Danforth and Coltrane 17,222
15th and I-35 East Frontage 11,661
Sorghum Mill and Kelly 8,994

How unique.......another sushi and habachi restaurant coming to the reservation.

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO BUCK THE TREND AND PUT IN AN IZAKAYA!!!!!!!!!

Damn, OKC....let's try something...you know....NEW!

Seems like a great location. I wonder why nothing can stay open there?

Same with the place where the Marie Calandar's was. That mexican resteraunt didn't last more that a few months!

And how did Shorty Small's close?? Wow, I was shocked!

I suspect part of the problem with Nino's (in the Marie Callender's location) as well as Bolton's and Logan's and Golden Corral is the difficulty of getting into that location. If you're coming from Edmond proper, you're either going to have a make a nearly impossible left turn across Broadway or you're going to have to make all kinds of contortionist moves to come at it from the other side. I don't go to Chili's as much as I might like because of that, and I avoid Outback altogether. If you're coming in from the city, that's great - but you may zoom right past them before you notice you've passed them.

It's not quite so difficult to get to the places on the other side of the road, but how to get out and get back home? I love Logan's, so I might have braved it for that, but it was long gone before I got here. Nothing else is appealing enough to bother. I keep it to the local places I've found here and the places along 2nd Street. And Chili's, because I just like 'em.

Just because the intersection of 33rd and Broadway has a lot of traffic doesn't mean that its the best intersection for restaurants...realize that the majority of that traffic is people heading out of town or heading home...not necessarily going out to eat.

I didn't think that Pepperoni Grill was there for 10 years, but I may be mistaken...Also, I kind of assumed that Portabello's just moved too agressively, perhaps? You have to be joking to tell me that their prices were too high for Edmond...I ate there several times at their original location and was very pleased with their prices...and I don't spend lots of money eating out.

January '97 - end of July '05 for Pepperoni Grill... At the time that they closed, the Eateries VP of Real Estates Jerry Bertholdi said, "Business is great. We're not looking to do anything with this concept, we were just made an offer we couldn't refuse."

Regarding the price point - it was higher than Pepperoni Grill. 33rd & Broadway gets a lunch and dinner crowd and drives traffic from the Sleep Inn, etc. The success of the name brand chains in that area (Chili's, Outback, On The Border and local chain Charleston's) stem from price point, name recognition and accepted value (meeting expectations). For folks who frequented the Pepperoni Grill and then showed up at Portabello's (did they change anything outside except the sign?), there were many unmet expectations. Check out this old thread on OKC Talk:

http://www.okctalk.com/best-worst/3832-new-portabellos-restaurant.html

I just think its hard to get in and out of those restaurants on broadway ext. I personally dont like to them unless someone (if I was on a date) really wanted to. Now with the construction, I think it would be a horrible time to open a restaurant in that area. Yes, your opening it right before the biggest season for the food industry (thanksgiving, christmas, caterings etc). Its just such a hassle to to drive on broadway ext. I've been to north dallas the past few weekends, and Edmond is quickly becoming that area. Where if you want to go to dinner you leave or meet your family at the establishment and wait for an hour, then when your done you wait an hour to get home....hopefully you get to see the 10 o'clock news haha

Sometimes too much traffic is a bad thing for a retail or a dinding location. That corner has high visability with difficult access. Coupled with the fact that the close proximity demographic radius is not very dense nor of a higher disposible income level. If you go to the 5 mile ring you get better numbers, but it then includes a larger number of dining alternatives. If the food is comparable to the next best alternative, then the choice falls to convenience or, habit.

I think that area is hell to drive in much less, doing anything complicated like getting into a turn..winks