Chopt (closed)

[kevinpate]

Sad when a decent looking concept can't hold its own through its first year. Not at all uncommon, but sad all the same.

[Urbanized]

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.

[Teo9969]

I went there one time, and it was good, but I had a feeling this might happen. About 3 years too early to be that far West. I hope they didn't lose a ton of money and maybe they can try again either somewhere else, or a little down the road. The food was good.

[BBatesokc]

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.

[Roger S]

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.

[bchris02]

I agree. Film Row isn't quite ready for this. After the 21c hotel opens up, it will become a better bet. Right now, the places to invest are Midtown, Auto Alley, 16th St Plaza, and 23rd.

[BBatesokc]

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.

Yes and no.

My wife currently eats out almost daily for lunch and she is very conscious about what she eats and most often goes for a healthy option. Additionally, some within my lunch group 'yeah' or 'nah' a restaurant based on the variety of healthy options offered. So, I think its a do-able concept - but you can't ignore the basics; location and value for the dollar.

[Roger S]

Yes and no.

My wife currently eats out almost daily for lunch and she is very conscious about what she eats and most often goes for a healthy option. Additionally, some within my lunch group 'yeah' or 'nah' a restaurant based on the variety of healthy options offered. So, I think its a do-able concept - but you can't ignore the basics; location and value for the dollar.

Wouldn't you agree that your wife is still the minority though? I didn't say that no one wants healthy options. I just don't think there are enough of that type of diner to sustain the concept on a daily basis.

We have a lunch group of 5-6 on a regular basis from my office. Only one ever takes healthy options into consideration when we go out for lunch and even he sometimes goes for the splurge.

Even the women in our office, who tend to be a lot more health conscientious than the men here, will go to some place like Nic's with me over Chop't which was walking distance from our office... In fact we walked past it several times on our way to Dunlap Cadding to get some food truck grub on two different occasions and both times the women commented that they had no interest in trying Chop't. When I asked them why it was for the reason I gave above. When they wanted to eat healthy they would just as soon pack their own lunch.

[BBatesokc]

Wouldn't you agree that your wife is still the minority though? I didn't say that no one wants healthy options. I just don't think there are enough of that type of diner to sustain the concept on a daily basis.

We have a lunch group of 5-6 on a regular basis from my office. Only one ever takes healthy options into consideration when we go out for lunch and even he sometimes goes for the splurge.

Even the women in our office, who tend to be a lot more health conscientious than the men here, will go to some place like Nic's with me over Chop't which was walking distance from our office... In fact we walked past it several times on our way to Dunlap Cadding to get some food truck grub on two different occasions and both times the women commented that they had no interest in trying Chop't. When I asked them why it was for the reason I gave above. When they wanted to eat healthy they would just as soon pack their own lunch.

You saying we don't have any successful eateries that highlight several 'healthy' options?

'Healthy' is subjective at best, but you could say in general Subway is a much healthier option than many other chain fast-food-ish restaurants. Same goes for Cool Greens, Jason's Deli, etc.

She may be in the minority (which is a disgusting shame that being conscious of what you put in your body is a minority mindset) - but its not a tiny minority and its a large enough base that if done correctly can be a success and often is with other eateries.

C'mon, anyone who really considered Chopt's menu overly 'healthy' has a pretty warped view of real healthy eating.

[Roger S]

You saying we don't have any successful eateries that highlight several 'healthy' options?

'Healthy' is subjective at best, but you could say in general Subway is a much healthier option than many other chain fast-food-ish restaurants. Same goes for Cool Greens, Jason's Deli, etc.

She may be in the minority (which is a disgusting shame that being conscious of what you put in your body is a minority mindset) - but its not a tiny minority and its a large enough base that if done correctly can be a success and often is with other eateries.

C'mon, anyone who really considered Chopt's menu overly 'healthy' has a pretty warped view of real healthy eating.

I do agree that healthy is very subjective because despite Jarod's weight loss success... I don't consider Subway to be a healthy option due to the bread.

My personal opinion on healthy is that if I couldn't eat it raw. I probably shouldn't be eating it..... But when I'm going out to eat. I do.

[Urbanized]

...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.

[Jeepnokc]

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.

[metro]

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.