A couple of blocks off Broadway in downtown Columbus, a small cluster of restaurants have found success and are starting to feed off each other.
On 12th Street between Second and First avenues, five restaurants —12th Street Deli and Catering, Black Cow, My Boulánge, Bare Roots Farmacy and Steamy’s — are now operating on the north side of the one-way street across from the U.S. Post Office and federal courthouse. Plucked Up Chicken & Biscuits is just around the corner on First Avenue.
Before the company and competition, 12th Street Deli and Catering has been a staple in the area, operating essentially in the same manner since opening in the early 1980s. It is open for breakfast and lunch and has a catering component that has been critical to the restaurant’s success, owner Chris Losonsky said.
“When we came down here, there was clearly a need for this kind of restaurant,” he said. “The catering took off and since we were here, we decided to do retail during the hours we wanted to work, breakfast and lunch.”
Other restaurants, notably the Uptown Grandstand, have come and gone over the decades. Now, it appears the competition in the area is here to stay and more could be on the way.
Black Cow, now owned by a trio of investors including chef Mark Jones, opened in 2008. It became a popular lunch spot, but filled the dinner spot that was not being filled by 12th Street Deli.
“Competition is good, and I have always felt that way,” Losonsky said. “I think it makes everybody sharper. The only problem I see is we keep adding restaurants in the downtown area and the pie is cut more ways. But it has become survival of fittest.”
Stephanie Woodham has been a part owner of the Black Cow since the end of 2014 and also is a part-owner of Smoke, a Jones barbecue restaurant in a prime Broadway location at the corner of 11th Street in the 1000 block.
“Some people think that competition is a negative, but that is not always the case in the restaurant business,” Woodham said. “Restaurants can help pull each other up. The more restaurants, the more it draws attention to the block. Then the block is activated.”
Brandi Whitney, co-owner of Bare Roots Farmacy, has seen that as well. Bare Roots, which markets healthy options for lunch and dinner, has been open since April and found its niche in the growing 12th Street marketplace.
“What I see on this street is how we all enhance each other,” said Whitney, who said she and her family eat at all of the nearby competitors.
My Boulánge is a French bakery with a French chef, Bruno Rizzo, that opened in the middle of the block late last year.
“There is no question that Bare Roots and My Boulánge has exposed the Black Cow to a different demographic,” Woodham said.
The fact that Bare Roots, owned by Olivia Amos and Whitney, has found a niche with those looking for healthy options is not surprising to Woodham and others.
“I think that their business model is on point,” she said. “Olivia and Brandi have stayed on point since opening. There is a segment of the downtown crowd that is really active, running and cycling, and they have targeted that group.”
Mary Brown, an owner of My Boulánge, said the other restaurants have been a plus for her business in its initial year of operating.
“We don’t advertise a lot,” she said. “I think that a lot of people have found us when they were on their way to the other restaurants. So, it has been very helpful for us.”
Woodham points to the variety of the restaurants on 12th Street and just around the corner on First Avenue.
“Take 12th Street Deli, it’s exactly what it says it is with sandwiches and soups,” Woodham said. “The Black Cow is Southern comfort dishes with a great military clientele. My Boulánge is a bakery and we really needed a bakery downtown. Bare Roots has a healthy menu and you really can see that in the use of ‘Farmacy’ in the name. Then you have Steamy’s and Plucked Up right around the corner.”
“It has gotten to where we can see someone walk in front of our window and you have an idea where they are going,” Whitney said.
But they will also slow down and try and figure out what type of restaurant Bare Roots in, Whitney said.
“They will walk by and look at the sign,” Whitney said. “They are headed to a different destination, but we have caught their eye. The next time, they may eat with us.”
Another plus for the area is there are two residential buildings in the immediate vicinity. There are loft condominiums around the corner on First Avenue and loft apartments across First Avenue in the old Empire Building.
“I am an optimist,” Whitney said. “I know with more foot traffic created by the restaurants, businesses and lofts, it will ultimately create more customers. That is the really cool part to me. We can all feed off each other.”
And the fact that it’s off Broadway can be a plus, Whitney said.
“Broadway is Broadway and it always will be,” she said. “It is a good thing when you get these legs coming off Broadway. That is where the growth is going to come.”
Brown would like to see more people venture off Broadway and down 12th Street.
“What is happening now is great, but we have to figure out a way to get more people off Broadway and into more of uptown,” she said.
The cluster of restaurants on 12th Street across from the courthouse has surprised Losonsky.
“It has taken a long time to see this,” Losonsky said. “But I am not complaining, you just have to work harder, that’s all.”
Jack Key is a retired real estate executive who owns the building at 123 12th St. that houses offices and florist shop. He frequents the 12th Street restaurants, sticking mainly with 12th Street Deli and Bare Roots because of the salad offerings.
“You look at the law offices in this block, what (developer and builder) John Teeples has done with the mixed-use building, it has created the perfect space for these ground-floor restaurants,” Key said. “... I am thrilled to see this. It has elevated everybody’s quality of life.”
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/...186951623.html
Long Live the 12th street rag!
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
