looking for location for new restaurant (Norfolk, Chesapeake: neighborhood, new construction, live)

[southbound chef]

My family and I are thinking to relocate ourselves and restaurant to Chesapeake.
We are currently the owners of a non-chain, quality, healthy, old and new world Italian restaurant, with some originality and not the same old, same old..
Our focus is offering real quality, homemade cuisine at affortable prices.
We need to be in an area where there is good traffic flow, as well as an area where this type of restaurant may be in demand for.
I'm trying to get down there when I can to scope the area, but being a hands on proprietor now, it is difficult to pinpoint some good spots to zoom in on.
Any help would be much appreciated.

[spritle]

i love my chesapeake but there really is a lack of mom and pops in the area. the town center area of greenbrier is very heavily traveled. the area around the new target in hickory is growing up nicely too. good luck!

[stacylee926]

I'm thinking Ches Square Mall area - Portsmouth Blvd area. We are not as congested with restaurants as Greenbrier etc and I cannot think of one restaurant that is not a chain here.

I know you said Chesapeake, but the Harborview area of Suffolk is starting a little boom with new construction.

[southbound chef]

These are great starts. Thank you much.
We are open to any ideas.

[Coconut1]

Don't do it! We were just having a discussion on the "Most underrate metro" thread about the very same matter, mom and pop stores/restaurants. The people here don't seem to care much for anything outside their chain. Granted there are a couple independently owned places out there, but they aren't the norm.

You're better off looking at a resort town or a big city if you want to continue your restaurant outside where it is now. Maybe Charleston SC, Charlotte NC, Washington DC, or Savannah GA.

[sh2009]

You should look into Kempsville...we need a good Italian restaurant here! And let everyone know where you decide to open up

[NJR]

Originally Posted by southbound chef

My family and I are thinking to relocate ourselves and restaurant to Chesapeake.
We are currently the owners of a non-chain, quality, healthy, old and new world Italian restaurant, with some originality and not the same old, same old..
Our focus is offering real quality, homemade cuisine at affortable prices.
We need to be in an area where there is good traffic flow, as well as an area where this type of restaurant may be in demand for.
I'm trying to get down there when I can to scope the area, but being a hands on proprietor now, it is difficult to pinpoint some good spots to zoom in on.
Any help would be much appreciated.

REAL ITALIAN FOOD????
REALLY???
I hope you come down here. Being from the NY/NJ metro area, I have been here for 2 years, visited many restaurants, took many recommendations, (someone even said Chesapeake Pizza was awesome???...Era lordo) and in the end I found one thing about this place....to quote Henry Hill in Goodfellas:

Can't even get decent food - right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup.

Olive Garden is considered "real" Italian food!!!!

That said, I concur, Greenbrier has the traffic flow, Kempville does too. The area around the new target in hickory is growing very nicely. You will find that people will flock to a new restaurant, if they get a good value.

Please keep us informed of your relocation plans, I for one would welcome real Riceballs or a nice bowl of Pasta fagioli ora plate of Pasta Puttanesca

Ok I gotta stop now, it's only 9:30 am and I'm getting hungry!!!!!

[southbound chef]

It's great to here all this feedback. I'm approaching this whole situation carefully. I understand coconut's view and it's this point I have to consider, although there are people out there who appreciate REAL food. Whether it be Italian or Japanese, and especially in a such a popular area. I probably wouldn't want to open right between an olive garden and a Denny"s but I will be searching the areas you all have mentioned.
Yes it's real Italian, puttanesca, fagioli, Saltimboca, Verdure, Osso Buco, homemade mozzarella, sausage and bread. I'm originally from the NYC area, then moved north and now we've fell in love with VA. and the climate is more fitting for us nowadays.Thanks again everyone for your help.

[Coconut1]

I remember there used to be a place in Chesapeake called Little Italy. The people were Italian and the chefs were actually from Italy. They had to close up shop.

My word of advice is, if the area, Greenbrier, Kempsville, etc. were so great for independent restaurants, don't you think there would be a lot of them there already? (Not aimed at anyone in particular, I'm just throwing the thought out)

If you're set on it here, maybe try downtown Norfolk. There are some independent restaurants there, but it's only a handful when you consider what we have up north. VA Beach is not really an Italian restaurant type of place... the independent restaurants there are mostly raw bars and beer shacks.

Good luck to you, and if you do decide to give it a go here, do let us know where

[Coconut1]

One other thing... I know you said you're from the NYC area, me too. As you're well aware it's still very ethnically driven up there. The Italians will support the Italians and they usually live close by. The Portuguese the same, Hispanic, Polish etc.

That's not the case here. Besides 'southern' there is no identity here so just don't expect all the other Italians in the neighborhood to all of a sudden show up. It's not an ethnically driven crowd and most are afraid to try new foods.