My wife and I dined at City + State a few weeks ago. We had a 7 pm reservation on a Friday night. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. There were only two other tables dining in that entire, massive restaurant. The entire front dining room was totally empty.

When we walked in to be seated, they hadn't even turned the music on. It was bizarrely dead-feeling. I did mention it to the FOH manager and she said, "Oh, we forgot to turn it on."

Unlike a lot of restaurants these days, it was well staffed. There were two or three bartenders / bar backs, at least three servers, and a host. Despite that, there were very long waits for drinks and we weren't ordering complicated craft cocktails.

The food itself was good, but not exceptional. Our bill ended up being quite expensive in the end for rather ho-hum food. Nothing was bad but certainly nothing stood out. And, while our server was very kind, they were not attentive at all. We found ourselves craning our necks wondering where our drink orders were and, I'm not kidding, the servers and bar staff were chatting it up at the bar while we waited. Overall, there was absolutely nothing special or remotely charming about the evening, which, for us, was supposed to be a special night out (we had also booked a room at The First).

For a place that sunk so much coin into design, the atmosphere was lacking to say the least. It was an entirely forgettable experience on a night and at a time one would expect a decent number of diners.

People don't eat out as much as they used to because it's insanely expensive, so experiences like what we had can add up to be fatal to an establishment.

Highly disagree. You absolutely need a website, socials and well managed yelp and google review pages in a competitive market. Besides it’s way too easy and cheap create all of that. You’re just shooting yourself in the door from the start if you don’t.

I haven't used Yelp in years and I rarely hear anyone use that word. I would say, in our local competitive market, telling Pete about your restaurant is far more beneficial then having a website. The moment he lets his many followers on his facebook and Instagram, those places get over run by the locals. No matter if it is high end or a small donut shop. The power of Pete and Social media can not be denied.

If you are a high end restaurant, yes you need to have a great website, but even City + State has a website. The problem is that their website isn't good and it actually made me not want to go there. If you have a website you better keep it looking nice and updated. It better be easy to navigate and have plenty of great photos of your food and space. If you don't have those things, then your website is actually working against you.

I haven't used Yelp in years and I rarely hear anyone use that word. I would say, in our local competitive market, telling Pete about your restaurant is far more beneficial then having a website. The moment he lets his many followers on his facebook and Instagram, those places get over run by the locals. No matter if it is high end or a small donut shop. The power of Pete and Social media can not be denied.

The initial rush of customers because of social media announcements is temporary. If the business is good some of those customers from the opening rush will hopefully stick around, but you also have to get newcomers to try in the coming months and years. Having some kind of easy to find and reference presence online is going to be important. Oftentimes if I'm searching for something new I'm looking first at Google Maps and see what information is on there. I mainly want to see photos, reviews, and information on the menu. I'll go to a website if they have one listed, but if the Google listing has that information I'm set.

The initial rush of customers because of social media announcements is temporary. If the business is good some of those customers from the opening rush will hopefully stick around, but you also have to get newcomers to try in the coming months and years. Having some kind of easy to find and reference presence online is going to be important. Oftentimes if I'm searching for something new I'm looking first at Google Maps and see what information is on there. I mainly want to see photos, reviews, and information on the menu. I'll go to a website if they have one listed, but if the Google listing has that information I'm set.

This is exactly how I search for all local retail and restaurants. Google has even made it fun to add photos and reviews to keep you searching. Most everyone is using google to find the restaurant and google even offers a webpage for those smaller companies that can't afford a large elaborate website. Most of the information and photos you need are on the Google listings.

Now that I think about it. I think all I really need from a dine in place in terms of a website is pretty simple. A static page with a menu and the hours. Maybe jazz it up with some pictures.

According to their social media. They are hosting a local music event coming up in July (was supposed to be tonight). Perhaps this place is going to become event space only.

According to their social media. They are hosting a local music event coming up in July (was supposed to be tonight). Perhaps this place is going to become event space only.

That's what it's been since closing.

This is exactly how I search for all local retail and restaurants. Google has even made it fun to add photos and reviews to keep you searching. Most everyone is using google to find the restaurant and google even offers a webpage for those smaller companies that can't afford a large elaborate website. Most of the information and photos you need are on the Google listings.

I was just in Europe. I used Google maps extensively to find places to eat, usually going by the star count and type of food I wanted.

I was just in Europe. I used Google maps extensively to find places to eat, usually going by the star count and type of food I wanted.

Most of my clients are shocked at how much more information they get from Google listing analytics than from their websites. You can even track the zip code of phone calls made by tapping on your Google listing phone number. This also helps to tell other people searching how busy their phones might be. Giving them an idea of how popular of a business you are despite the review numbers.

Also, I went to an event at the City + State location. The place is very nice and the event was great. They catered food and we had the upstairs all to ourselves including the patio. They had a live band playing the whole time. As an event space, it is a winner. The restaurant was just not managed how it should have been.