New fast-casual announced for Endion Station in Canal Park; thoughts? (Duluth: how much, restaurant)

[aluminumpork]

"The Endion Station Public House, as it will be called, will be a fast-casual restaurant offering craft beer on tap, sit-down eating, take out and grab-and-go options for picnics."

Source on DNT

This looks to be the latest venture of Rod Raymond and Tim Nelson of Just Take Action, Inc. JTA also owns Burrito Union, Brewhouse, and Tycoons. If they can pull this off, I think it will be a nice addition to Canal Park, especially being that there is a significant lack of lake side dining. I just hope that they will offer enough differentiation from their other products, and not just re-sell the same ol' Brewhouse.

Thoughts?

[geebabe]

Thanks for the link, which I pulled this from:

"We really love the historic side of Duluth,” said Brad Nelson, Tim’s brother and a company spokesman. “It’s cool for us to go in and save these historic buildings and re-purpose them. We’re really proud of that as a company."


I also think it will be a nice addition to Canal Park and I hope it goes well. I love to see historic places saved and I get way more excited about this sort of project than anything that's going on by the mall.

Good luck guys!

[aluminumpork]

Originally Posted by geebabe

I love to see historic places saved and I get way more excited about this sort of project than anything that's going on by the mall...

I completely agree! The downtown area and Canal Park are the most visible areas of Duluth; it's really important that they continue to be developed. In my opinion, Canal Park is still sub par and needs a lot of work (and not necessarily in the business department). Road surfaces, parking structures and overall organization needs to be improved. In my perfect world, cars would be completely eliminated from the area in lieu of walking and the carriages. Think about how much more could be done there if the streets became usable space.

[Chester Dark]

Alpork: I love the carless idea! I've often thought that if the streets of Canal Park were not plowed in the winter, transport could be provided by horse-drawn sleighs or dogsleds. It would be an awesome draw for locals and tourists.

As for Endion Station/Fitgers - I just concerned that the Fitger's team might be diluting their own business by having so many similar options so near each other.