~what we need-

[mrknowitall]

1. we need some upscale night life. i just got back from a weekend in toronto- and it hit me-more upscale for the young bus. professionals.i as still spackling rats into the stud walls of my small downtown project and i was trying to do a meeting/small bar type but these drink licences are getting re-damn-dickulous $$. so i may go another route and install some hotdogcarts that sell fishdogs -its the new thing. hotdogs made from fish parts. anyways.

anybody else a memeber of thet vintage ghettoblaster collectors of america?

[Rizzo]

No, but I used to ride with a ghettoblaster on my shoulder. I played the hits from Vanilla and Hammer... I had the Hammer Pants and the hightops to prove.

I'm not a young professional, but I still think a lot more choice of upscale is always a good thing and so is a good 'hood bar. i'm still gonna go stick with my laid back "union hall" style gatherins. You know the place, where you don't have to dress to impress and throw twenties around like they sprout out in the back forty.

[zenstyle]

We need clubs, dining clubs, for women and for men. As in, "I'll be dining at the club this evening, dahling."

The ideal club would have tons of cherrywood paneling, tip-top linens, china, and crystal, fresh flowers arranged on every possible surface, and, naturally, be totally childfree.

Whatever happened to dining clubs, anyway? Were they strictly a product of old Hollywood movies?

[snoogit]

Whatever happened to dining clubs, anyway? Were they strictly a product of old Hollywood movies?

They've been reduced to a small slab of plastic that gets you discounts at major restaurants.

[Rizzo]

The again mrknowitall you did come from Toronto.. Thoes are some pretty big shoes to fill....

[GR_Urbanist]

I used to collect Sony Walkman, if that counts.

How about a Mcdonalds or a Long John Silvers? How about some good old fashioned food joints or diners. What exactly is so special about these "young business professionals" anyway? Most of the young business people I know are too tired to do the club thing anyway.

Lets encourage some places for the small business owner who wears dirty jeans to the shop or the lady who works out of her car. These guys would just like a nice plate of ribs and a cold one in a nice, clean place. Besides, upscale places are so full of phony people.

[snoogit]

Lets encourage some places for the small business owner who wears dirty jeans to the shop or the lady who works out of her car. These guys would just like a nice plate of ribs and a cold one in a nice, clean place. Besides, upscale places are so full of phony people.

Hells Yeah! Preaching to the choir here brother

[Sunlover38]

I used to collect Sony Walkman, if that counts.

Lets encourage some places for the small business owner who wears dirty jeans to the shop or the lady who works out of her car. These guys would just like a nice plate of ribs and a cold one in a nice, clean place. Besides, upscale places are so full of phony people.

Try Bob's Bar on Michigan. Food is good, drinks are cheap and atmosphere is fun . . .one of those "hole in the wall" type places that makes you feel right at home!!!!!!!

[PBJ]

On one side Bar Divani is always pretty busy... however The Opus Room didn't do so well, and neither did The Stacks VIP idea. I think we have a lot of people in GR who are 23-40 trying to "Keep up with the Joneses" so to speak, who really don't have the $$$ to consistently drop the cash to support a venture like that, but like to pretend they do.

[GRDadof3]

I used to collect Sony Walkman, if that counts.

How about a Mcdonalds or a Long John Silvers? How about some good old fashioned food joints or diners. What exactly is so special about these "young business professionals" anyway? Most of the young business people I know are too tired to do the club thing anyway.

Lets encourage some places for the small business owner who wears dirty jeans to the shop or the lady who works out of her car. These guys would just like a nice plate of ribs and a cold one in a nice, clean place. Besides, upscale places are so full of phony people.

Maybe it's perception, but I look around GR and that's all I see are places for people like that.

[Rizzo]

Gr_Urbanists you speak it! I would have to agree so much with you.

[Sunlover38]

Actually . .GR has come a long way . . . there are some great, unique restaurants/bars downtown and while there may not be the great Toronto or other Big City feel, GR is SO much better than it was when your option downtown was Magoos or Z's . . .not that there is/was anything wrong w/ those places . . .but that was it . . . . the B.O.B. alone was an incredible improvement . . .

[GrandRiverCityKid]

We REALLY don't have the 'nice' young professional spots around here (I'm 27). StackVIP That place was NOT one of them...(they failed due to poor management, so I heard). I have two theories...1)Grand Rapids developers don't know anything about the young urban professional... or...2) We are too small in # to have too many places. Bar Divani is the closest that we have...most everything else gets overrun by gvsu/college age kids. Where do you go when you don't want to go to Raggs/Taps/Gardellos anymore but you don't want to hang out with the 40+ divorcees at the B.O.B? Young urban professionals DO have the money to throw around. They have their house payments and car payments, but when they DO have fun, they go out. And they spend $$$. I remember being in college and scoping out the $1.00 drafts for every night. I'd have a blast on $20 bucks, dance with some ladies, take a cab home, and then do it all again the next night. Now, we might go out once a weekend and a couple happy hours a week, but I want calmer/nicer/no puke on the floor night. I don't mind spending $10 for a martini or $4.50 for a good beer if it's in a nice place with good people without homeless people coming in and asking for change. Then again, some of my favorite spots are simple dives with $2.00 OldStyles.

I don't know where I'm going with this, but to a lot of people I know...Grand Rapids owners/developers/managers do the 'safe' project. There's very little inovation or desire to be contemporary. Seems like we need some outside HELP, because I'm not sure the GR people know what they're doing in this aspect. Maybe as the 'first' people to enjoy GR's nightlife age...these places will come along with them....maybe.

[GaryP]

GRCK I want to make your post my signature.

[jayblogger]

GRCK I want to make your post my signature.

GaryP I want to make your signature more popular

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/

[GRDadof3]

We have come a long way from the Z's/Magoo's only days, but I DON'T think we have the critical mass of young professionals to support too many upscale establishments yet. Look at all the places that have had to pare down their menus due to lack of interest: Taps (their first menu had some pretty exotic things on it), many of The BOB's restaurants (started off going for a more trendy/metropolitan fare, now just mainly pub grub), even Bistro Bella Vita has changed their menu quite a bit from opening.

Whether you like upscale places or not, you have to have trendy spots for young professional to "see and be seen" (as HIX mentioned). It's part of the urban professional culture that people can get in larger cities. So which comes first, opening these places to lure upscale clientele, or waiting until there are upscale clientele to support such a venture

[PBJ]

So which comes first, opening these places to lure upscale clientele, or waiting until there are upscale clientele to support such a venture

That damn chicken and egg problem rears it's ugly head even when it comes to booze .. same problem we have with living, retail, entertainment downtown.

[Rizzo]

Na, just let the jobs bring 'em! Lets see the catch-22 disapear.

So times I think I'll go into one of these trendy establishments downtown thinking, "sooo... wait, is this thingie looking at me, any good?" or "Wow, what is this, filet mignon auxessala morillesashmilalallala."

[NorthCoast]

A little out there but perhaps one more fine arts performing center would help the city. I've read recently that its very hard for the Broadway Theatre Guild to bring in really big shows like Wicked or Phantom of the Opera because these are shows which are hugely popular, warranting about a month's run. Often this isn't possible due to dates being taken up by other users of the Devos, mainly the Symphony and Opera Grand Rapids who get first bid. I know right now this really isn't a feasible idea and it would take the pulling of a lot of strings but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

[egrguy]

i agree, b/c all these shows go to kalamazoo or chicago for these types of shows.

has anyone scene the wicked/chicago tourist commerical a half dozen times aired locally?

[GRDadof3]

A little out there but perhaps one more fine arts performing center would help the city. I've read recently that its very hard for the Broadway Theatre Guild to bring in really big shows like Wicked or Phantom of the Opera because these are shows which are hugely popular, warranting about a month's run. Often this isn't possible due to dates being taken up by other users of the Devos, mainly the Symphony and Opera Grand Rapids who get first bid. I know right now this really isn't a feasible idea and it would take the pulling of a lot of strings but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

No, that's a good point j3shafer. I posted that here:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...20439&hl=gainey

[Prankster]

A little out there but perhaps one more fine arts performing center would help the city. I've read recently that its very hard for the Broadway Theatre Guild to bring in really big shows like Wicked or Phantom of the Opera because these are shows which are hugely popular, warranting about a month's run. Often this isn't possible due to dates being taken up by other users of the Devos, mainly the Symphony and Opera Grand Rapids who get first bid. I know right now this really isn't a feasible idea and it would take the pulling of a lot of strings but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

That is a very good idea. It is also the rumored third project that Grand Action is supposed to take on.

[Sunlover38]

What we need is an authentic Greek restaurant . .not another AppleeBees, Chili's, Fridays, etc.. . not a Koney Island either . . . . I don't think the Greeks like GR . . .haha

[PBJ]

What we need is an authentic Greek restaurant . .not another AppleeBees, Chili's, Fridays, etc.. . not a Koney Island either . . . . I don't think the Greeks like GR . . .haha

There's the Pita House on Wealthy

[dbrok]

What we need is an authentic Greek restaurant . .not another AppleeBees, Chili's, Fridays, etc.. . not a Koney Island either . . . . I don't think the Greeks like GR . . .haha

There was Greek Town that was open for a while, but wasn't really that good. There are some decent Middle Eastern places around like Osta's in EGR, Pita House and Olive Express. Apparently Kalamazoo has a Greek place called Blue Dolphin that's supposedly good, but I haven't been.

I was in Ann Arbor on Saturday night and they have a nice downtown. The atmosphere is amazing, as is the variety of shops and restaurants. Greek is just down the street from Indian, which is next to Chinese, etc. What really stood out was the number of people walking up and down the streets checking out shops that were still open. It was almost 50 degrees that night, so maybe people were taking advantage in January, but I haven't really seen that kind of energy in downtown GR.