[del76]

hi to all looking know to open indian restaurant not a CHIPPY as in my other thread!! after hours of searchin i came across a closed restaurant in Howell MI, its location is good on east grand river were all other food outlets are. My question is has any body had there food?? (india Gate). Or is Howell just not the right place for indian restaurant demographically. Population 9,500. any advice and suggestions would be great.

[zthatzmanz28]

Howell is struggling to shed its racist past. It is doing really good, but there are a few of the "old guard" that refuses to move forward and live in reality. Depending on where in Howell (near Lowes there?) I would think an Indian style resturant with good food could do well...most of the people in Howell are great folks and would probably enjoy a Punjabi Kadi with Pakora.

[del76]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Howell is struggling to shed its racist past. It is doing really good, but there are a few of the "old guard" that refuses to move forward and live in reality. Depending on where in Howell (near Lowes there?) I would think an Indian style resturant with good food could do well...most of the people in Howell are great folks and would probably enjoy a Punjabi Kadi with Pakora.

thanx for reply there is a indian there but is closed, dont know what reason but is located east grand river, anybody any ideas to why it is closed is it due to the the racist mentality or????

its location is were all the other big food outlets are. here in the u.k there are indian restaurants all over, even in small villages and towns with some with population less that 5,000. But with Howell population of 9+ i cant see why it didnt work out may be the food wasnt up to scratch. I mean a proper punjabi indian restaurant.

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by del76

hi to all looking know to open indian restaurant not a CHIPPY as in my other thread!! after hours of searchin i came across a closed restaurant in Howell MI, its location is good on east grand river were all other food outlets are. My question is has any body had there food?? (india Gate). Or is Howell just not the right place for indian restaurant demographically. Population 9,500. any advice and suggestions would be great.

I personally hate Indian food, but I work across the street from India Gate and all my co-workers really dug it. I have no idea how they went out of business -- management must have been spectacularly bad, or the food may have been priced too high. For that matter, I don't know how the Mancino's grinder outlet that was there before could possibly have gone out of business -- they did a ton of business and their delivery boys were run ragged. My officemate here just described the food as "not that bad" so maybe it was just mediocre. Normally, the best kind of business to open in this county is a restaurant. The Thai, Chinese, Italian and other ethnic restaurants have been doing fine for years, along with the usual coney-dog and burger joints. We also have 2 fairly new Japanese places -- a sushi joint and a steakhouse -- that are really humming. On the other hand, the best Chinese place in the area went under after they started skimping on things and the food started to really go downhill. Kishka gelt and all that.

I think if you can offer really good food at decent prices, AND you can deliver, you're going to be in good shape. One problem with that location is that it's a pain to get in and out of the intersection, so if you were to take on deliveries, that problem would go away.

[YAZ]

They closed Mancino's?



Is the one in Brighton still open?

[chiroptera]

I adore Indian food and cook it too. Somehow I don't see Howell as a great place for an ethnic restaurant, but I don't know the town well, just the area. So take that FWIW.
Del76, I gotta ask - you're talking about opening restaurants in the US, which is great. But why Michigan? It's a great state but is in pretty dire financial straits right now so I'm just curious about your choice of state.

[nairb102]

Perhaps in Brighton? They come and go pretty quick, so I don't think it's a demographic that's just against indian food. Howell seems to be a rough town to get any business started. Also makes it tough to get work. Here's a good spot for www.thefreewarehouse.com/main/page_news_gallery_jobs.html

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by YAZ

They closed Mancino's?



Is the one in Brighton still open?

Definitely.

I know Howell was the MI seat of the KKK over 30 years ago, and you still get a little racist moronicity here and there, but certainly nothing that would prevent an ethnic restaurant from opening. In fact a lot of people around here drive to Ann Arbor because it's the closest place to find a Mongolian BBQ, Ethiopian or Middle Eastern food. For crying out loud, this place is so Pentecostal you can cut it with a fork, but there's a Wiccan bookstore doing a brisk business right in the middle of town.

[hispanic02]

When India Gate opened people were excited because there's a strong demand for spicy food - this small town sports no less than 4 'Mexican' restaurants along with a Thai joint. Under refortunately, India Gate's basic lunch plate was $14 in a market where the average is about $6. I ordered takeout dinner for 3 and it was almost $80. With the economy the way it is, prices like that ain't gonna fly outside of NYC. To my amazement, these guys never lowered their prices, clientelle dried up, and they went under in less than 2 years.

Simple enough.

So what's with the bizarre Howell is racist suggestion? It's like a room full of parrots endlessly repeating what they've heard absent any encounter with reality. zatzman speaks knowingly of Howell's 'racist past' - from North Carolina (btw, there is not a Lowe's here - you seem confused about many things regarding this place). Cliffy (where ever he's from) seems to be unaware of la Meena, Grand River Cafe or a half dozen other spots within 6 miles where you can get something without mayo in it. By the way, show me a MongolianBBQ or Turkish Lamb House in a town of this size anywhere in the world. How absurd. Most of the eateries in town are 'ethnic'.

Still, there's no disputing that the only Ethiopian restaurant in the United States of America is, in fact, an incommodious 20 miles south of Howell, so I guess you could take that and run with it if you were committed to slandering this town for some reason - or, more likely, for no reason.

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by hispanic02

Cliffy (where ever he's from) seems to be unaware of la Meena, Grand River Cafe or a half dozen other spots within 6 miles where you can get something without mayo in it.

Cliffie is from Brighton, and usually considers eating out to be a big waste of simoleons, so rarely does it. Did you really expect me to list every single ethnic restaurant in the county?