Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Rome Restaurant
As Marcia Vanderlip reported on the Trib's food forum today, Columbia's only family-style Italian restaurant is slated to open on south 9th Street this Saturday, July 26th. That puts the tally for independent downtown restaurant openings for the next month at four (Rome, Room 38, Bleu and Mississippi Catfish). A good development for us, but who will remain standing in two years? Let the voting begin (at left).
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4 comments:
That is a lot of restaurants, but I'm not sure that all of them opening at the same time has much to do with anything. With the exception of Bleu and Room 38, they seem to have different concepts and to be going after different markets.
I am very excited to try The Rome. I hope it sets a new mark for Italian in Columbia (which shouldn't be too hard).
Also...I don't know how it's possible to predict what will be around in two years. No one has eaten at any of these places, so I'm not sure how to even make this estimate.
If I had to make any guess, I would think that Bleu and Room 38 will have the stiffest competition with each other, since their concepts sound similar and they're opening at the same time.
I think Bleu and Room 38 will be competing for the same crowd, but their food focuses will be pretty different (contemporary American vs. tapas, respectively). They will be at the same price point, however - therein lies the similarity in my opinion.
You are correct on The Rome. It wouldn't take much to be the best of a bad lot. Here's hopin' the lack of Italian competition doesn't create a sense of apathy there.
And it's not possible to predict...but it sure is fun!
Agreed with scmr77 that Bleu and Room 38 are going to be in direct competition. My bet is only one will be left standing in two years. Rome's prospects are good b/c we lack good italian in this town. Mississippi Fish Shack could go either way!
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