...I think it was probably the concept more than the location that put them out of business...

I would agree to an extent...that is that the concept was wrong for the location. I think the concept would do fine in the CBD or the OUHSC, where there is a critical mass of consumers. The problem is that Film Row doesn't yet have the day-in-day-out critical mass of either office workers or residents to support a lunch-only healthy eats place. For a place to survive it must be either a destination in and of itself or build its business around the folks who are in the district already, WHEN they are in the district. For Film Row, right now, that is mostly evenings and either Civic Center or (especially) IAO event nights.

I really think a major fatal flaw for most downtown service-oriented businesses (including restaurants and retailers) when they don't survive is that they often don't carefully analyze and cater to users who already exist in their area and instead build for a client base they hope to attract.

We went last year and thought it was a weak concept. Look at the menu. Four breakfast items and lunch is 3 salads or 10 sandwiches/wraps and tomato soup Not really anything to go out of the way for and there wasn't anything exciting about the food to have you come out of the way. Saw marketing mistakes like not putting your phone number on the to go menu. Seems like it may have been better suited to be a sandwich shop for a large office building.

I thought I had posted a comment about this, but I guess I never hit the post button or something. Anyway, sorry to see it go but not especially surprised. The people seemed very nice, but that is still a pretty lonely outpost over there. I'm not sure the resident office worker population supports it yet. The other venues are surviving for reasons outside of just the workers in the district. Joey's had a previous following, for instance, plus enjoyed a few months as really the only pizza place downtown before Hideaway was built. It also has a bar and benefits from IAO and Civic Center events.

Anyway, not sure Film Row was quite ready for what seemed to me to be a mostly lunch-only place targeting mostly workers in the district. Needs more critical mass.


As previously conveyed, not really surprised. Stopped in twice and wasn't impressed either time. Food wasn't 'bad', just nothing special and certainly didn't match the prices.


I was hearing complaints about quality and value.

I think it was probably the concept more than the location that put them out of business. I think most of us that want to eat healthy meals for lunch are probably packing our own lunches. When we go out to eat I think the majority of diners still want to splurge. A good burger or sandwich shop could probably thrive there.


We went last year and thought it was a weak concept. Look at the menu. Four breakfast items and lunch is 3 salads or 10 sandwiches/wraps and tomato soup Not really anything to go out of the way for and there wasn't anything exciting about the food to have you come out of the way. Saw marketing mistakes like not putting your phone number on the to go menu. Seems like it may have been better suited to be a sandwich shop for a large office building.

THIS! I'm like Urbanized and thought I posted before but I too guess I didn't press "Submit". As someone who offices his business just a few doors away, I am with the crowd that says "I'm not surprised". I don't think it was so much as a "foot traffic" issue like some have suggested, as much as it is a "crappy food, poor customer service, bad prices, and lack of marketing" problem. There are more people office'ing in Film Row than you think. As Bates insinuated, the prices were way too high for what the food was. In the first couple weeks, I ordered a basic cobb salad for $9 dollars, and it was crappy iceburg lettuce from Sam's, fake cheddar cheese, hidden valley ranch out of a bottle, etc. The order counter is like Subway, nothing fancy. Sorry but if I pay $9 for a salad at a walk-up counter, I expect fresh greens, REAL cheese, etc. The owner didn't even say anything, or "how did you hear about us", or ANYTHING other than ring me up. They also had about 6 people working, and I was the ONLY customer in during the lunch hour. I ate there, and only 1 customer came in about a 20 minute span. The owner or no one even checked up on me to see how it was, see if they could get me anything, etc. They also don't have a restroom, which I'm not sure how they got permits to open?

I could go on, but this pretty much summarizes how they handled the place. Rumor has it the owner of Chopt was the Aunt of the Joey's Pizza lady. I think a coffee place or deli/burger joint would do well here.