Small business owner worried about Dubuque opening (Iowa City, Colo: casino, wages)

[calvinb1980]

I'm a chef that just joined this sight and have been reading up on peoples opinions of Dubuque. I haven't seen any comments on nightlife, specifically dining options. We are looking at a location on main street to open a french-inspired american bistro. Our quality always compared to great restaurants in California(per se), Chicago (tru, frontera, blackbird, and Trotter's), and Europe(not bragging, Alaine Ducasse). I'm looking at a price range of about $9-$30, average seating time of about an hour. Please let me know what you think about the downtown area...is it an entertainment destination....is it a ghost town on week days....is it busy on the weekends? I am open to all opinions, but please keep the city bashing to a minimum. Do you think this will fit?

[thtapler]

to be honest, the kind of restaurant you described would be something I'd expect to find in Iowa City more so than Dubuque

[SharpHawkeye]

Originally Posted by thtapler

to be honest, the kind of restaurant you described would be something I'd expect to find in Iowa City more so than Dubuque

That could be his opening, though. Iowa City is sort of saturated with small bistro-type restaurants. Dubuque might be a better market.

[thtapler]

Originally Posted by SharpHawkeye

That could be his opening, though. Iowa City is sort of saturated with small bistro-type restaurants. Dubuque might be a better market.

I guess I just thought of it the other way around.. the reason there's not many restaurants like IC has is because it's literally a different culture and we dubuquers don't like to pay that much for food.

[LeavingWI]

I'm a very limited visitor to Dubuque so far. Dubuque could definitely use some better restaurants, but I think a more mid-grade restaurant would do a lot better. Pepper Sprout (http://www.peppersprout.com/main2.htm - broken link) is at 378 Main and price-wise seems comparable to what you're talking about. I haven't eaten there so I can't comment food-wise. You'd probably want to check them out to get an idea.

Advertising will be key. Also you've probably got two sets of diners - local and casino.

I personally think you'd do better business with a $15-20 setup and a 15-30 minute wait time in Dubuque.

[Get to Know Dubuque]

Dubuque is one of the few communities in Iowa that is experiencing growth, which is good for you. In regards to your question about Main Street/downtown - yes it is an entertainment district at night. I would say Wednesday - Saturday is busiest, but that is true for any town. There are several "niche" restaurants downtown that do well. An earlier post mentioned Pepper Sprout, which is high end food and priced higher than what you suggested. Other restaurants in the area include Caroline's, L'May, Cafe Mana Java, Salsa's Shot Tower, Naughty Dog, Mario's, Star and more. Each of them has a unique niche. I suggest you take a look at their menus and go from there. Of course there are no guarantees in business, but there are plenty of people and organizations in Dubuque that can help answer some of your questions including the Small Business Development Center.

[johnny2times]

There are several places one can get a lunch for $5-$10. If you want to make a dent in this town you need to go cheaper. 2 slices of pizza and drink for $5 even is not hard to find, or $5 for a huge sub.
IBMers who will be your biggest lunch clients make very low wages so they are looking for a place that has decent prices. Dinner you might have better luck with, but that depends on how you promote yourself. Most restaurants were giving 20-30% off for IBMers when they first opened shop. So do not be greedy and most of all you better have huge portions, this is Iowa remember and as you can see walking around town almost all locals are morbidly obese and can eat a ton of food.
Good luck and keep us posted.

[Ramone's Gal]

"almost all locals are morbidly obese???" Wow, what a generalization, and an unfair one at that! Many locals are very healthy, the area offers wonderful hiking/biking trails, and other such amenities. There are many people here who appreciate fine dining and don't mind paying for it, as long as the quality and service are there to go along with the price. The downtown area attracts a LOT of visitors, especially as mentioned before on the weekends. Good luck and please take a serious look at Dubuque!

[johnny2times]

Truth hurts dont it? all someone has to do is walk around town and see for themselves. A lot of fat people have no idea they are morbidly obese so for those people here is some facts so you can wake up and lose some pounds.

• more than 100 lbs. over your ideal body weight, or
• have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40, or
• have a BMI of over 35 and are experiencing severe negative health effects, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, related to being severely overweight
• unable to achieve a healthy body weight for a sustained period of time, even through medically supervised dieting

I have met several women who are in their mid 20's and already have diabetes.
Now that is pathetic. They will start to lose limbs if they dont do something about it.

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by johnny2times

Truth hurts dont it?

I'd bet at the most 25% are morbidly obese, and to you that means "almost all"
Your posts are a joke.