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East Beltline Developments


GRDadof3

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I agree this was much needed. I drive through her every day and can already tell a difference. Traffic flows much more smoothly now. Having two lights only 100 ft apart really hampered traffic flow especially when the lights were timed so you’d have to stop even if there was no other traffic.

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  • 4 months later...

1 minute ago, jthrasher said:

I think it will work.  For those people that love Hopcat but don't want to deal with downtown parking and crowds

My thought as well. I love Hopcat, but I hate the giant lines for such a small establishment. This will do well. It won't have the same atmosphere, but it will have good beverages and food.

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39 minutes ago, GRLaker said:

My thought as well. I love Hopcat, but I hate the giant lines for such a small establishment. This will do well. It won't have the same atmosphere, but it will have good beverages and food.

This will be extremely busy.  We will be frequenting this location often.  Can't wait.  

Edited by Sparty97
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1 hour ago, EastownLeo said:

It will be slammed. If the Score can draw so many people that they need valet parking, this will do well. May even eat into the Score's business.

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42 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

It will be slammed. If the Score can draw so many people that they need valet parking, this will do well. May even eat into the Score's business.

Was Bagger Daves's just bad?   Seems like there would be some crossover customers?  Why didn't Bagger Dave's take Scores business?

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I’m probably wrong but I’ve always thought that at least part of Hopcat’s popularity was because of its chic urban locations.  Not that the Knapp’s Corner location won’t be popular but it sort of dilutes that urban image.  Diluting the image might be OK I suppose in the long run for business.   I guess I’m thinking about how TGI Friday’s evolved.  It started out as a hip singles bar and restaurant in NYC and then became the somewhat mediocre chain restaurant that it is today but at a corporate  level I'm sure it takes in a lot more money than in the old days..

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1 hour ago, EastownLeo said:

Was Bagger Daves's just bad?   Seems like there would be some crossover customers?  Why didn't Bagger Dave's take Scores business?

A) Bagger Daves is like applebees but you can create your own burger? More "family oriented." I dont recall them having a phenomenal tap list. Hopcat will be more happy hour and adult oriented, like the Score.

B) That Bagger Daves location was weird. At the far northern end of the development zone surrounded by dirt piles. Plus I dont think either Bagger Daves knew what they wanted to be. Pf Chang and Bravo have distinct menus and theyre fairly busy.

C) All the 40 something Forest Hills, Northview and Rockford people who don't like rubbing elbows with hipsters downtown will love this place. Less need to uber. :)

D) That area was one of the few left in the metro area not served by a good brewpub. This solves that. Gravity is ok but not fabulous.

 

 

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32 minutes ago, walker said:

I’m probably wrong but I’ve always thought that at least part of Hopcat’s popularity was because of its chic urban locations.  Not that the Knapp’s Corner location won’t be popular but it sort of dilutes that urban image.  Diluting the image might be OK I suppose in the long run for business.   I guess I’m thinking about how TGI Friday’s evolved.  It started out as a hip singles bar and restaurant in NYC and then became the somewhat mediocre chain restaurant that it is today but at a corporate  level I'm sure it takes in a lot more money than in the old days..

Admittedly I did wince at the prospect of Hop Cat just becoming a meh local chain of bars, but if they really cant absorb all of the business DT (a nice problem to have), maybe a location like Knapp will take the pressure off by off-loading the hardest to accommodate customers (suburbanites and their cars) to a friendlier location.

I just think it's too bad they didnt build new on one of the undeveloped portions of Celebration Village. Would have been a great way to keep up with a little bit of urban style.

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I think it’ll do really well. I’d say the failure of Fajita Republic and Bagger Dave’s had more to do with the fact of so-so concepts by a company that gave up and went back to its cash cow (Buffalo Wild Wings). 

As for atmosphere, I think they can make it happen. The HopCat in Detroit actually doesn’t have that great of an atmosphere. And it’s in a cool old building, downtown. So I’m hoping they really give this one some charm. 

I wonder if they will do this in other cities, or maybe this is just a hometown special. 

And hey, it just doubles the locations in GR to get Crack fries. :)

Joe

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10 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

I think it’ll do really well. I’d say the failure of Fajita Republic and Bagger Dave’s had more to do with the fact of so-so concepts by a company that gave up and went back to its cash cow (Buffalo Wild Wings). 

As for atmosphere, I think they can make it happen. The HopCat in Detroit actually doesn’t have that great of an atmosphere. And it’s in a cool old building, downtown. So I’m hoping they really give this one some charm. 

I wonder if they will do this in other cities, or maybe this is just a hometown special. 

And hey, it just doubles the locations in GR to get Crack fries. :)

Joe

They apparently have 17 locations now, with more planned. My guess is they're using this as an experiment to try "upscale" suburban locations. I would imagine just like here in GR, good urban locations are getting pretty expensive and hard to come by. 

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13 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

I think it’ll do really well. I’d say the failure of Fajita Republic and Bagger Dave’s had more to do with the fact of so-so concepts by a company that gave up and went back to its cash cow (Buffalo Wild Wings). 

As for atmosphere, I think they can make it happen. The HopCat in Detroit actually doesn’t have that great of an atmosphere. And it’s in a cool old building, downtown. So I’m hoping they really give this one some charm. 

I wonder if they will do this in other cities, or maybe this is just a hometown special. 

And hey, it just doubles the locations in GR to get Crack fries. :)

Joe

The Hop Cat in Indianapolis is pretty meh. It feels way more like a bland sports bar, just with a great tap list. So honestly not that different than The Score just without all the outdoor stuff.

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25 minutes ago, Pattmost20 said:

The Hop Cat in Indianapolis is pretty meh. It feels way more like a bland sports bar, just with a great tap list. So honestly not that different than The Score just without all the outdoor stuff.

The Louisville location feels similar, although it's in the Highlands which is one of the coolest neighborhoods in the city.

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39 minutes ago, Pattmost20 said:

The Hop Cat in Indianapolis is pretty meh. It feels way more like a bland sports bar, just with a great tap list. So honestly not that different than The Score just without all the outdoor stuff.

The difference is that the HopCat crack fries have a cult following in GR.  Crack Fries are something that everyone knows about and people will go there just to try it at least once.  I know people like my dad have never been to the downtown location (and probably never will) but I can see taking him there when he is visiting us on the NE side. 

I've never been to the other locations (tried to get into the East Lansing location once but the line was 2 hours...) and I'll be curious how it compares.

Next, they need to bring a Stella's to us somewhere in the burbs (or maybe bring The Queso Jalapeno burger to the new HopCat).  :-) 

Edited by Sparty97
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52 minutes ago, Sparty97 said:

The difference is that the HopCat crack fries have a cult following in GR.  Crack Fries are something that everyone knows about and people will go there just to try it at least once.  I know people like my dad have never been to the downtown location (and probably never will) but I can see taking him there when he is visiting us on the NE side. 

I've never been to the other locations (tried to get into the East Lansing location once but the line was 2 hours...) and I'll be curious how it compares.

Next, they need to bring a Stella's to us somewhere in the burbs (or maybe bring The Queso Jalapeno burger to the new HopCat).  :-) 

I think you're spot on about a segment of the population that knows about crack fries and the great beer selection but wouldn't go to the DT location (because there's no parking) but will give a suburban location a go.

I've been to the East Lansing location a few times and it has a decidedly more industrial vibe as compared with the DT Grand Rapids location. Same good food and great tap list. 

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On 3/19/2018 at 12:42 PM, EastownLeo said:

Was Bagger Daves's just bad?   Seems like there would be some crossover customers?  Why didn't Bagger Dave's take Scores business?

Bagger Dave's had/has OK burgers, but nothing you really can't get anywhere else and their prices were/are much higher than other places of similar food.  I went to the East Beltline location once a couple of months after they opened and told my wife, They won't last.  They made it longer than I thought they would.

On 3/19/2018 at 12:01 PM, GRDadof3 said:

It will be slammed. If the Score can draw so many people that they need valet parking, this will do well. May even eat into the Score's business.

The huge draw to The Score is their summer outdoor seating, with entertainment.  During the winter you can typically get seated immediately and if you want to sit inside in the summer, you can also get immediate seating.  Parking in the summer is the issue there.

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37 minutes ago, DGramza_MCC said:

Bagger Dave's had/has OK burgers, but nothing you really can't get anywhere else and their prices were/are much higher than other places of similar food.  I went to the East Beltline location once a couple of months after they opened and told my wife, They won't last.  They made it longer than I thought they would.

The huge draw to The Score is their summer outdoor seating, with entertainment.  During the winter you can typically get seated immediately and if you want to sit inside in the summer, you can also get immediate seating.  Parking in the summer is the issue there.

I think the Score is pretty cheesy personally, BUT, we have fun every time we go there with friends and/or neighbors. The outside in the Summer is cougar central. And the waitresses all seem to share very similar physical traits. Must be all guy managers. ;) I kind of think of the Score as the place where soccer moms and dads go after the kids' game to get drunk, especially with all of the taps and growler filling stations they added. Hopcat may become a new place for that as well, based on comments from many of my neighbors (we only live a few miles from there) who are unbelievably stoked that it is opening and don't have to go downtown to get their Hopcat fix.

 

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