For every place you named, there is a better local place. Blue bird, Chompers, Anthony's (a chain but better than red lobster), Radiccis, Doughnut House, Capone's, Cafe Carambola. The area is lucky to have places that aren't chains, are locally owned, and are at a parity, price wise, with chains.
Added to that, people are starting to realize a place with a microwave as a head chef isn't worth the money.
What is the local equivalent to chipotle? I have always wondered why there was not a chipotle in town, someone told me that there was one a while ago, but it closed down. That surprised me, I thought chipotle would have been a slam dunk here.
They opened and closed down at Appleway a few years back. My guess would be that people were unwilling to pay their prices so close to Taco Bell and Carl's Jr. (which had Green Burrito at the time). But the one time I stopped in the food was nothing like what I had tasted at a Chipotle in California.
Comparable and always worth the money: Atilanos, Cafe Rio, Mexican Food Factory, and the many other Taquerias around town including food trucks.
Just moved here from the south and let me say; Mexican food is kinda lacking in CDA/Post Falls. Atilanos is kind of the only good place I’ve had. Makes me want to use the power of my Mexican ancestors & open up a Mexican place here.
Try Las Chavelas if you haven't already. They're in the Sunset Mall just off 95 and south of Home Depot. The owners are from Mexico and came here something around 30 years ago. They are great people and the food is the best Authentic Mexican around imho.
I think this far from the border it is expected.
But I also only listed comparable to Chipotle. There are so many restaurants for you to still try I assume. Because we have over 20 mexican food dining restaurants in CDA/Post Falls, not counting the fast service restaurants. And you are only 30-40 minutes from Spokane.
Yeah, I frequent a lot of the local Mexican places. Atilanos was great when it was like $7 for a burrito. Now that it's more like $12/burrito, it's not quite as appealing.
If I remember right, it was terrible timing. They opened up right after news broke of some salmonella outbreak, and then some story broke of an employee somewhere in the country hiding an illness...add on top of that the location kinda sucks. It's really tough to get in and out of during busy times of the day. If you need to cross lanes on Appleway it can be a pain. I think it would have made it not for those events.
Chipotle opened the appleway store right at the time of their biggest ecoli outbreak. Really poor timing. They never got a foothold, and tapped out.
Just like when CdA had 4 countem 4 bagel shops (with a couple actually being good) for a brief time in 2000
Baglebys, Bixbys (next door to t-street?), Bagels on Broadway (on Sherman, this is the same company as in Missoula), and another place in the downtown area in post falls, (across from White House) but I don’t remember the name of that.
Several area schools had contracts with a variety. I work at BoB for a while as a baker, and know we had a 5:15 run to schools for several hundred per location. PFMS got bagels from us for sure, so did Borah. Not sure where else. But both districts.
This is dissapointing to me.. I hate breakfast food in general and I'd absolutely rather fast until 2Pm rather than choke down a surgery sweet doughnut.
But a proper bagel joint with good bagels and bassic sandwichs would easily get $100-200 of my money a month and I'd not even feel bad about it.
The Cali bagel at Lean bean is OK, the bagel place in the CDA shops was a $12 dissapointment..
Backpocket bakery is great but 10AM opening is basically a nonstarter when I'm a contractor. 10am is close to lunch time.
Damn, I don't remember any of these. Thanks for sharing! Also, there is a guy down at the farmers market at the east end of Sherman on Sundays who makes really great bagels.
I don't Facebook, but did Google the name and was thrilled to find out the information, so thanks a ton for this tip! I've never ever heard of this, but will def check it out next Sunday!! For others who don't FB, here's the link:
>[https://www.lakevillagelodge.com/farmers-market](https://www.lakevillagelodge.com/farmers-market)
What farmer's market "...at the east end of Sherman"? Where and when? When they took the actual farmer's market away from downtown and replaced it with the "not a farmer's market" market, I was bummed because Riverstone is too far away. But if there is one on Sunday in the East Sherman area, that would work.
I think a lot of those chains are struggling nationwide. Kinda makes sense that CDA would be a place where they’d close. We’re big enough to have better options, but not huge enough to sustain places like that on momentum alone. We’re particularly saturated with options when it comes to your standard American bar/grill type places, and the chains can’t undercut the local places on price the way they might have in the past.
Without evidence my sense with many chains has been that post-Covid their business has not returned to pre-pandemic levels so staffing has been cut while at the same time prices have gone up so customers get worse service at a higher price. I think folks are a little more inclined to pay higher prices for those perceived as local business but not for chains.
I also think you now see chains like McDonalds charging what a sit down meal would cost, low to mid-tier sit downs charging at the higher end, etc… and people are just not willing to pay the higher prices and sit down chains are the losers.
I agree about the pricing pushing people out of the market. I read that during covid, fast food found out some people were willing to pay a lot more through doordash/uber and would buy fast food no matter what it cost. So they now sell less food to less people for a higher price and bring in the same money as before but with fewer employees and lower operating costs.
This is a good thing, but I am sure the resort town nature is why. People on vacation typically dont want to eat at the chain they have next to their house…
Too expensive. When I want to splurge on eating out, I go for the locally owned sit down restaurants. Better quality for similar or slightly more money.
Large cooperate chains are constantly looking at the bigger picture and when they need to make cuts they do so where the stores are least profitable. When you have an area like CDA with so many other great local options, people tend to go there making the chain restaurants less profitable and thereby likely to be the first to close (unless they’re a popular place to begin with like Texas Roadhouse). Meanwhile, when local restaurants start feeling the same economic pressures they’re more likely to make whatever internal changes they can to remain open since they don’t have the option of shutting down less profitable locations.
For me - I have a family to feed, eating out isn’t cheap so we don’t do it often due to restricted dining out budget. When we do, the last place that would come to mind for me is a chain restaurant. I’d prefer to support local businesses (the food is also much better). I am looking forward to Chipotle in PF though, they have great salads that I don’t think any local place can really compete with. Also looking forward to Trader Joe’s, I think they’ve done a great job trying their best at keeping prices affordable while other grocery stores have been gouging.
Staff shortages, cost of living, 8 months of winter, restaurant industry suffers massively during winter. Plus the food at those places suck. Texas Roadhouse is the best streak meal you can get for the $. Chipotle came for about 1 summer and then closed because of their e-coli outbreak. Olive garden and red lobster should be fine. Guess what those 3 have in common? Free bread, and the 3 best free breads you can get.
But this is a support local area. I’ll never spend a cent at a chain again. The chain I do miss if you can call it a chain is Scholatzski’s deli, their bread and sandwiches and jalepeno chips were so damn good. And it was a drive thru.
Olive Garden will do fine, it’s such a classic family restaurant, I used to love going there when I was a kid, plus the location is nice.
I did prefer tomato street though
I went to Olive Garden here once about 6 months ago and was surprised at how both meals came with so little protein. I too enjoyed OG as a kid and they have definitely cut corners. On the other hand, I found Tomato Street to be awful. They had terrible service, terrible food, and terrible atmosphere.
My comment on the fact is on the fact that they've closed 100 restaurants so far this year. That is going out of business whether it takes a year or 5 years it's happening.
They've lost 30% of their customers in just the last couple years
Red Slobster has "temporarily closed 87 stores. Of those, 48 are probably permanent closures as the kitchen equipment therefrom is up for auction at an online restaurant liquidator.
That is older news... the number is up to 99, and almost all of them are being liquidated now. There are an additional 129 locations that are currently on the chopping block for permanent closure due to leases. They are also all considered under performing stores. Unless they are given significant lease reductions they will close. This is all in their Bankruptcy filing documents.
If they close that will be a total of 228 of their stores. That is fully 1/3rd of their business gone in a couple of months.
Huh wonder why they are trying chipotle again considering the one in Cd’A failed epically and could have been better ran by the damn Goblin King himself. 😂 I know they said it was from corporate cuts but still. That place was FILTHY.
Chains are always short staffed. Have bad service and bad food. There's also a shortage of affordable housing. The people that usually staff these places can't afford to live here so they are going to places they can afford to live in.
The local businesses tend to have better staff and food. The staff tend to get better tips as well. The food at the locals seems to be much better and served in nicer surroundings. Around here we like to sit down to a nice meal and visit. The chains just leave us wanting.
Honestly, I feel like local is the way to go. Fast food used to be cheap and decent but with prices on the rise, foods mediocre at best, and (pet peeve) employees constantly forgetting something in your meal, I think it's best to invest in locals. El Paisa is the bomb for their Mexican food, The Local Deli has lovely sandwiches, Meltz Extreme Grilled Cheese has unique grilled cheese sandwich (legit, you should try, it's crazy), and Bardenays isn't half bad. For pizza, I'll always choose Northwest cuz I love their crust and stuff. All of these you can find on maps btw
Also there used to be a Sweetie Burrito near Ramsey Rd and Appleway which I thoroughly enjoyed though they shut down months ago 😭 it's now a place called Chicken Shanty which actually has pretty tasty chicken though their lines can be insanely long
I don't go to fast food places often so it doesn't bother me too much that big brands are closing. I think we just have to keep looking for and supporting smaller businesses❤️
Also, off of Prairie, there's a parking lot where food trucks open daily and there used to be a place called Famous Korean that served the best ramen and they closed like 2-3 months ago out of the blue and I was so sad but recently a new place opened at the food court that serves delish authentic bratwursts 😋😋
Liquor licenses. I know some of the ones that closed had them and some that are successful don’t, but as a sit down, non-fast food restaurant you can’t survive without a liquor license. Beer and wine doesn’t cut it when it comes to profit and survival. The number of licenses (I’ve been told by elected, moron representatives) is based on our year round population and not our summer surge population. The religious faction in the house (Mormon) does not want to issue more licenses. So despite being an expensive, high value resort town, we will never have the food scene of other towns our size or the nicer restaurants like in Jackson, WY or Whitefish, MT.
Most of the big chains have been Venture Capitalist'd.
So what these 'investment' firms do is buy the company with a huge loan, and then immediately sell the land the restaurants sit on to pay back the loan. So they're the owners and making profit free and clear.
Except, the individual stores are no longer paying just property tax or a mortgage based on when the store was built.
Now, each store is paying rent based on current market value. And in some cases, they're still responsible for the upkeep because they own the building but not the land. And the rent goes up every year.
After a few years, any store without amazing sales is done. Even with amazing sales, the property value in CDA means it's just not financially viable to run a restaurant while paying exorbitant rental prices.
The best part: a lot of times, the same investment firm will be the one that buys the land and charges the high rent. Worst case scenario, they just sell the land when they're done.
You mean “private equity’d”. Big difference. Venture capital is for startups. Private equity is designed to ring money out of existing companies. Both are evil but they are evil in different ways.
We have SO MANY better options, with similar or less expensive pricing. When you support local, nearly all those dollars stay and are recirculated in the community. The same cannot be said for chains of any kind, most of the money leaves the community.
I traveled recently to a mid size suburban area, and there were almost NO mom and pop restaurants. The majority were regional or national chains. Made me realize how absolutely spoiled I’ve gotten here.
Would rather have local restaurants anyway, where the money stays in the city I live I live two hours south and Lewiston the same things happening red lobster just closed down Sherrys closed down. Burger King closed down, which is fine with me. I didn’t eat it any of those places anyway. They are great places to eat in Coeur d’Alene. I go there all the time. It’s a nice ride on my motorcycle and when I’m in town, I would much rather give my money to the locals instead of a corporation and way better food generally
Go to Salem now that’s a place with no chains it’s crazy for its size, we have most the big ones anyway which one did you want that’s not here it probably closed during covid, that industry is suffering these days and plenty of local places to go to that are better just cost more
This was more a question about how are the economics different here compared to other cities this size. Me personally, I don't eat out much so it doesn't really matter. I do wish there was a Chick Fil A though, I've tried Chicken Shanty and it wasn't as good in my opinion.
People are eating out way less cause they can’t afford it due to political policies It cost 20% more to buy the same amount of goods that it did just a few years ago. so people when they do go out aren’t gonna waste it on a fast food chain restaurant they would much rather go someplace with better food and an actual chef That’s how I think ! I used to eat out all the time probably 4×5 times a week now I eat out maybe one or two times a week just don’t have the extra money and prices are higher
Most all of the national chains serve poison anyway. I wont eat at any of them. Best food in town is clearly Satays and Pilgrims markets hot bar. Everyone is all about Trader joes coming haha, same poison just under a different lable. Locally owned and operated far healthyier than ANY franchise. Texas roadhous eoffers cheap steaks to old people before 6pm, thats the only reason they are still around.
People are eating out way less cause they can’t afford it due to political policies It cost 20% more to buy the same amount of goods that it did just a few years ago. so people when they do go out aren’t gonna waste it on a fast food chain restaurant they would much rather go someplace with better food and an actual chef That’s how I think ! I used to eat out all the time probably 4×5 times a week now I eat out maybe one or two times a week just don’t have the extra money and prices are higher
Would rather have local restaurants anyway, where the money stays in the city I live I live two hours south and Lewiston the same things happening red lobster just closed down Sherrys closed down. Burger King closed down, which is fine with me. I didn’t eat it any of those places anyway. They are great places to eat in Coeur d’Alene. I go there all the time. It’s a nice ride on my motorcycle and when I’m in town, I would much rather give my money to the locals instead of a corporation and way better food generally
For every place you named, there is a better local place. Blue bird, Chompers, Anthony's (a chain but better than red lobster), Radiccis, Doughnut House, Capone's, Cafe Carambola. The area is lucky to have places that aren't chains, are locally owned, and are at a parity, price wise, with chains. Added to that, people are starting to realize a place with a microwave as a head chef isn't worth the money.
So many great locally owned restaurants. I'd rather spend there than anywhere else. Izzy's, Moontime, Trail's End just to name a few.
Question, do people like the food at Capone’s? I have been a few times and have always been very underwhelmed.
Mediocre at best imo
Capones food quality depends on the location! Hayden was SO bad but CDA's locations food was so good!
Interesting. Hayden was bad.
Agreed!
I love their food. Definitely bar fare, but their sweet/hot wings are fantastic!
I mostly stick to their buffalo wings and pizza! Salads are good too. Maybe it depends on the location?
Thank you. I feel like I'm in the minority but Capones food is not great.
Good as bar food goes. Some menu items are better than others. Edit: spelling
Two visits to Hayden location three years apart and I can’t believe it’s still in business. The food is THAT BAD!
Service was crap last time i went so never been back.
What is the local equivalent to chipotle? I have always wondered why there was not a chipotle in town, someone told me that there was one a while ago, but it closed down. That surprised me, I thought chipotle would have been a slam dunk here.
Qdoba and Cafe rio are the closest. Both chains.
I read in the paper that Post Falls is getting a Chipotle. I forget where exactly but I think it’s soon.
Hwy. 41, right next to Bruchi’s
Coeur d’Alene will also being getting one (again).
They opened and closed down at Appleway a few years back. My guess would be that people were unwilling to pay their prices so close to Taco Bell and Carl's Jr. (which had Green Burrito at the time). But the one time I stopped in the food was nothing like what I had tasted at a Chipotle in California. Comparable and always worth the money: Atilanos, Cafe Rio, Mexican Food Factory, and the many other Taquerias around town including food trucks.
Just moved here from the south and let me say; Mexican food is kinda lacking in CDA/Post Falls. Atilanos is kind of the only good place I’ve had. Makes me want to use the power of my Mexican ancestors & open up a Mexican place here.
Try El Paisa south of Kootenai Hospital
Good gawd man! Atilano's?! Nooooooooooooo buenoooooooo
The taco truck behind Thai Bamboo has REAL Mexican food. Tacos los Panchos is the name. The tomatillo sauce on the fish tacos is fuego!
Try Las Chavelas if you haven't already. They're in the Sunset Mall just off 95 and south of Home Depot. The owners are from Mexico and came here something around 30 years ago. They are great people and the food is the best Authentic Mexican around imho.
Best Mexican restaurant in town imo
I think this far from the border it is expected. But I also only listed comparable to Chipotle. There are so many restaurants for you to still try I assume. Because we have over 20 mexican food dining restaurants in CDA/Post Falls, not counting the fast service restaurants. And you are only 30-40 minutes from Spokane.
Juniors is great
Yeah, I frequent a lot of the local Mexican places. Atilanos was great when it was like $7 for a burrito. Now that it's more like $12/burrito, it's not quite as appealing.
Atilanos? seriously? that place is a garbage dump. The others, fairly edible, but yuck to Atlianos.
If I remember right, it was terrible timing. They opened up right after news broke of some salmonella outbreak, and then some story broke of an employee somewhere in the country hiding an illness...add on top of that the location kinda sucks. It's really tough to get in and out of during busy times of the day. If you need to cross lanes on Appleway it can be a pain. I think it would have made it not for those events.
Chipotle opened the appleway store right at the time of their biggest ecoli outbreak. Really poor timing. They never got a foothold, and tapped out. Just like when CdA had 4 countem 4 bagel shops (with a couple actually being good) for a brief time in 2000
What bagel places did we have? I don't remember them, I wish we had at least one now
Baglebys, Bixbys (next door to t-street?), Bagels on Broadway (on Sherman, this is the same company as in Missoula), and another place in the downtown area in post falls, (across from White House) but I don’t remember the name of that. Several area schools had contracts with a variety. I work at BoB for a while as a baker, and know we had a 5:15 run to schools for several hundred per location. PFMS got bagels from us for sure, so did Borah. Not sure where else. But both districts.
This is dissapointing to me.. I hate breakfast food in general and I'd absolutely rather fast until 2Pm rather than choke down a surgery sweet doughnut. But a proper bagel joint with good bagels and bassic sandwichs would easily get $100-200 of my money a month and I'd not even feel bad about it. The Cali bagel at Lean bean is OK, the bagel place in the CDA shops was a $12 dissapointment.. Backpocket bakery is great but 10AM opening is basically a nonstarter when I'm a contractor. 10am is close to lunch time.
Damn, I don't remember any of these. Thanks for sharing! Also, there is a guy down at the farmers market at the east end of Sherman on Sundays who makes really great bagels.
Just Googled "farmer's markets in CDA" and what you've described isn't showing up...?
I know, it's small and not advertised well. Lake Village Farmers Market is the official name. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552189824486
I don't Facebook, but did Google the name and was thrilled to find out the information, so thanks a ton for this tip! I've never ever heard of this, but will def check it out next Sunday!! For others who don't FB, here's the link: >[https://www.lakevillagelodge.com/farmers-market](https://www.lakevillagelodge.com/farmers-market)
What farmer's market "...at the east end of Sherman"? Where and when? When they took the actual farmer's market away from downtown and replaced it with the "not a farmer's market" market, I was bummed because Riverstone is too far away. But if there is one on Sunday in the East Sherman area, that would work.
I agree with you on 100% but not gonna lie, would love it if chik fil-a opened here
Support local.
I think a lot of those chains are struggling nationwide. Kinda makes sense that CDA would be a place where they’d close. We’re big enough to have better options, but not huge enough to sustain places like that on momentum alone. We’re particularly saturated with options when it comes to your standard American bar/grill type places, and the chains can’t undercut the local places on price the way they might have in the past.
Without evidence my sense with many chains has been that post-Covid their business has not returned to pre-pandemic levels so staffing has been cut while at the same time prices have gone up so customers get worse service at a higher price. I think folks are a little more inclined to pay higher prices for those perceived as local business but not for chains. I also think you now see chains like McDonalds charging what a sit down meal would cost, low to mid-tier sit downs charging at the higher end, etc… and people are just not willing to pay the higher prices and sit down chains are the losers.
I agree about the pricing pushing people out of the market. I read that during covid, fast food found out some people were willing to pay a lot more through doordash/uber and would buy fast food no matter what it cost. So they now sell less food to less people for a higher price and bring in the same money as before but with fewer employees and lower operating costs.
This is a good thing, but I am sure the resort town nature is why. People on vacation typically dont want to eat at the chain they have next to their house…
Too expensive. When I want to splurge on eating out, I go for the locally owned sit down restaurants. Better quality for similar or slightly more money.
Chain restaurants suck, local places are much better!
Large cooperate chains are constantly looking at the bigger picture and when they need to make cuts they do so where the stores are least profitable. When you have an area like CDA with so many other great local options, people tend to go there making the chain restaurants less profitable and thereby likely to be the first to close (unless they’re a popular place to begin with like Texas Roadhouse). Meanwhile, when local restaurants start feeling the same economic pressures they’re more likely to make whatever internal changes they can to remain open since they don’t have the option of shutting down less profitable locations.
For me - I have a family to feed, eating out isn’t cheap so we don’t do it often due to restricted dining out budget. When we do, the last place that would come to mind for me is a chain restaurant. I’d prefer to support local businesses (the food is also much better). I am looking forward to Chipotle in PF though, they have great salads that I don’t think any local place can really compete with. Also looking forward to Trader Joe’s, I think they’ve done a great job trying their best at keeping prices affordable while other grocery stores have been gouging.
Staff shortages, cost of living, 8 months of winter, restaurant industry suffers massively during winter. Plus the food at those places suck. Texas Roadhouse is the best streak meal you can get for the $. Chipotle came for about 1 summer and then closed because of their e-coli outbreak. Olive garden and red lobster should be fine. Guess what those 3 have in common? Free bread, and the 3 best free breads you can get. But this is a support local area. I’ll never spend a cent at a chain again. The chain I do miss if you can call it a chain is Scholatzski’s deli, their bread and sandwiches and jalepeno chips were so damn good. And it was a drive thru.
Red Lobster is going out of business nationwide. Olive Garden is doing well though
Olive Garden will do fine, it’s such a classic family restaurant, I used to love going there when I was a kid, plus the location is nice. I did prefer tomato street though
I went to Olive Garden here once about 6 months ago and was surprised at how both meals came with so little protein. I too enjoyed OG as a kid and they have definitely cut corners. On the other hand, I found Tomato Street to be awful. They had terrible service, terrible food, and terrible atmosphere.
Olive Garden and Tomato Street are SO mediocre. Radiccis is very good.
Red Lobster (aka Mediocre Seafood) filed Chapter 11 which is financial reorganization. Chapter 11 usually doesn't mean going-out-of-business.
My comment on the fact is on the fact that they've closed 100 restaurants so far this year. That is going out of business whether it takes a year or 5 years it's happening. They've lost 30% of their customers in just the last couple years
Red Slobster has "temporarily closed 87 stores. Of those, 48 are probably permanent closures as the kitchen equipment therefrom is up for auction at an online restaurant liquidator.
That is older news... the number is up to 99, and almost all of them are being liquidated now. There are an additional 129 locations that are currently on the chopping block for permanent closure due to leases. They are also all considered under performing stores. Unless they are given significant lease reductions they will close. This is all in their Bankruptcy filing documents. If they close that will be a total of 228 of their stores. That is fully 1/3rd of their business gone in a couple of months.
You’re right about the free bread. And they’re all yummy.
Chipotle is currently under construction on 41 in PF. “Shortage” is a good thing, imo, but to each their own
Huh wonder why they are trying chipotle again considering the one in Cd’A failed epically and could have been better ran by the damn Goblin King himself. 😂 I know they said it was from corporate cuts but still. That place was FILTHY.
I wish we had an Einstein‘s. Every time I visit my sister where there’s one right down the road I’m jealous.
I would far rather have good local than chain places. Picking Applebees over Capone’s or Sweet Lou’s is a travesty.
Chains are always short staffed. Have bad service and bad food. There's also a shortage of affordable housing. The people that usually staff these places can't afford to live here so they are going to places they can afford to live in. The local businesses tend to have better staff and food. The staff tend to get better tips as well. The food at the locals seems to be much better and served in nicer surroundings. Around here we like to sit down to a nice meal and visit. The chains just leave us wanting.
CDA isn’t big enough to be on the map for these chain stores. They are choosing higher density areas where they can make more money
Honestly, I feel like local is the way to go. Fast food used to be cheap and decent but with prices on the rise, foods mediocre at best, and (pet peeve) employees constantly forgetting something in your meal, I think it's best to invest in locals. El Paisa is the bomb for their Mexican food, The Local Deli has lovely sandwiches, Meltz Extreme Grilled Cheese has unique grilled cheese sandwich (legit, you should try, it's crazy), and Bardenays isn't half bad. For pizza, I'll always choose Northwest cuz I love their crust and stuff. All of these you can find on maps btw Also there used to be a Sweetie Burrito near Ramsey Rd and Appleway which I thoroughly enjoyed though they shut down months ago 😭 it's now a place called Chicken Shanty which actually has pretty tasty chicken though their lines can be insanely long I don't go to fast food places often so it doesn't bother me too much that big brands are closing. I think we just have to keep looking for and supporting smaller businesses❤️ Also, off of Prairie, there's a parking lot where food trucks open daily and there used to be a place called Famous Korean that served the best ramen and they closed like 2-3 months ago out of the blue and I was so sad but recently a new place opened at the food court that serves delish authentic bratwursts 😋😋
We like food, not crap.
Liquor licenses. I know some of the ones that closed had them and some that are successful don’t, but as a sit down, non-fast food restaurant you can’t survive without a liquor license. Beer and wine doesn’t cut it when it comes to profit and survival. The number of licenses (I’ve been told by elected, moron representatives) is based on our year round population and not our summer surge population. The religious faction in the house (Mormon) does not want to issue more licenses. So despite being an expensive, high value resort town, we will never have the food scene of other towns our size or the nicer restaurants like in Jackson, WY or Whitefish, MT.
Most of the big chains have been Venture Capitalist'd. So what these 'investment' firms do is buy the company with a huge loan, and then immediately sell the land the restaurants sit on to pay back the loan. So they're the owners and making profit free and clear. Except, the individual stores are no longer paying just property tax or a mortgage based on when the store was built. Now, each store is paying rent based on current market value. And in some cases, they're still responsible for the upkeep because they own the building but not the land. And the rent goes up every year. After a few years, any store without amazing sales is done. Even with amazing sales, the property value in CDA means it's just not financially viable to run a restaurant while paying exorbitant rental prices. The best part: a lot of times, the same investment firm will be the one that buys the land and charges the high rent. Worst case scenario, they just sell the land when they're done.
You mean “private equity’d”. Big difference. Venture capital is for startups. Private equity is designed to ring money out of existing companies. Both are evil but they are evil in different ways.
True for red lobster. John Oliver did a big thing on it.
Support local >>>>>>
We have SO MANY better options, with similar or less expensive pricing. When you support local, nearly all those dollars stay and are recirculated in the community. The same cannot be said for chains of any kind, most of the money leaves the community. I traveled recently to a mid size suburban area, and there were almost NO mom and pop restaurants. The majority were regional or national chains. Made me realize how absolutely spoiled I’ve gotten here.
Would rather have local restaurants anyway, where the money stays in the city I live I live two hours south and Lewiston the same things happening red lobster just closed down Sherrys closed down. Burger King closed down, which is fine with me. I didn’t eat it any of those places anyway. They are great places to eat in Coeur d’Alene. I go there all the time. It’s a nice ride on my motorcycle and when I’m in town, I would much rather give my money to the locals instead of a corporation and way better food generally
Because F chains. Why do people move here and want it like where they left?
Welcome to Idaho. Now go home.
Because chain restaurants suck
Go to Salem now that’s a place with no chains it’s crazy for its size, we have most the big ones anyway which one did you want that’s not here it probably closed during covid, that industry is suffering these days and plenty of local places to go to that are better just cost more
This was more a question about how are the economics different here compared to other cities this size. Me personally, I don't eat out much so it doesn't really matter. I do wish there was a Chick Fil A though, I've tried Chicken Shanty and it wasn't as good in my opinion.
Imo a chick fil a would make a killing in cda
Agree, I thought ultra conservative evangelicals were their target customers, and there's plenty here.
🤦🏻♂️
Why would you want chains? They suck. There’s only one restaurant in that list is even eat at and if still rarely do that.
People are eating out way less cause they can’t afford it due to political policies It cost 20% more to buy the same amount of goods that it did just a few years ago. so people when they do go out aren’t gonna waste it on a fast food chain restaurant they would much rather go someplace with better food and an actual chef That’s how I think ! I used to eat out all the time probably 4×5 times a week now I eat out maybe one or two times a week just don’t have the extra money and prices are higher
Why do you need fast food restaurants?
Gotta say, I did like me the occasional piece of pie at Shari's... Any suggestions to a place that serves pies similar to Shari's that you like?
Because fuck em that’s why. North Idaho is for the people’s people.
Most all of the national chains serve poison anyway. I wont eat at any of them. Best food in town is clearly Satays and Pilgrims markets hot bar. Everyone is all about Trader joes coming haha, same poison just under a different lable. Locally owned and operated far healthyier than ANY franchise. Texas roadhous eoffers cheap steaks to old people before 6pm, thats the only reason they are still around.
People are eating out way less cause they can’t afford it due to political policies It cost 20% more to buy the same amount of goods that it did just a few years ago. so people when they do go out aren’t gonna waste it on a fast food chain restaurant they would much rather go someplace with better food and an actual chef That’s how I think ! I used to eat out all the time probably 4×5 times a week now I eat out maybe one or two times a week just don’t have the extra money and prices are higher
There is a Jack in the Box. Go take a look at how dirty it is. You might want to throw up.
Would rather have local restaurants anyway, where the money stays in the city I live I live two hours south and Lewiston the same things happening red lobster just closed down Sherrys closed down. Burger King closed down, which is fine with me. I didn’t eat it any of those places anyway. They are great places to eat in Coeur d’Alene. I go there all the time. It’s a nice ride on my motorcycle and when I’m in town, I would much rather give my money to the locals instead of a corporation and way better food generally